Consolation Prize (Forbidden Men #9)(114)

I jerked back to gape up at him, my mouth falling open. I’d had no idea he made that much from his Vines. But then I shook my head, getting past that and focusing on his suggestion. “Colton, don’t be ridiculous. You’re not paying for my college.”

“Why not? You’re giving up that money and more for me; it’s the least I can do.”

“Just…” I patted his chest and then touched his cheek, honored he even offered. “I’ll figure something out.”

“Yeah, I didn’t figure you’d accept.” He blew out a long breath. “I guess that means there’s just one thing for me to do.”

“What do you mean?” I looked up into his face, almost dreading the answer even as I asked for it. “What are you going to do, Colton?”

He shrugged. “I’m going to talk to your dad and convince him to approve of our relationship so you can keep going to college with his help.”

I stepped back. “No. What? No, that’s an awful idea.”

“No, it isn’t. Why is it a bad idea?” He looked kind of insulted by my insistence.

I pointed toward the door where my dad had just left. “You just tried to talk to him, and it only made things worse.”

“Hey.” He grasped my shoulders. “Will you trust me? I’m the king of bullshit, remember?”

“Except my father sees right through bullshit,” I growled.

“So do you, but I won you over, didn’t I?” Pressing a kiss to my forehead, he murmured, “I can win him over too.”

“How?” I asked incredulously.

He shrugged. “Easy. The most important thing in his life is you, right? I just have to make him see you’re the most important thing in my life too. I can do that.”

I blew out a breath. Yes, he could. Colton had turned out to be the best person I knew. “Okay, you’re right,” I murmured, hugging him hard. “You can do anything you set your mind to. I trust you.”

He blinked at me suspiciously. “You do? Well, of course you do. I’m awesome. But, wait. You agreed with me too easily. What’s the catch?”

I smiled and kissed his cheek. “No catch. I love you and trust you. That’s all.” But inside, I had already started to think up a way to convince my dad to give Colton a chance too. And that’s what I really trusted. Us working together through teamwork.





COLTON’S CHAPTER | 32





I stayed with Julianna until morning, and I swear we held each other a little tighter all night long as if we both feared someone was going to barge into her room and physically tear us apart, namely her dad.

After her alarm went off, we knew we needed to get up and prepare for a day full of classes, but we didn’t want to move just yet. We lay there, staring up at her ceiling as we remained wrapped around each other in our safe little cocoon.

“Is it bad that I want to hunt down your ex and kick the shit out of him for telling your dad?” I asked.

She huffed out a laugh. “Honey, get in line. I would love nothing more than to punch him in the throat right about now.”

“I can’t believe he and your dad still talk. I mean, your dad knows why you divorced him, right?”

When Julianna swallowed audibly, I looked at her. “Julianna?”

With a sigh, she closed her eyes. “I just told him I felt like I was too young to be married at that time, which was also true. So, he still kind of thinks Shaun and I will get back together again someday.”

“What?” I sat up, outraged. “Why didn’t you tell him everything?”

“Because…” She cringed and then glared at me for pressing the issue. “Shaun insisted it was an accident, and it very well could have been. I didn’t want to falsely accuse him of anything.”

“That’s bullshit. You know it wasn’t an accident just as much as I do. He’s still keeping tabs on you, and he grabbed your arm, baby doll. Your instincts are not off. He’s violent. And what the hell, anyway? Why didn’t you tell your dad about the infidelity? Surely that would’ve made him never want to talk to his precious Shaun again.”

“I don’t know.” She shook her head, looking weary. “I was too embarrassed. I thought I should’ve done something better to keep his interest only on me.”

I took her chin and looked her straight in the eye. “You can’t get better than perfection. He f*cked up, it’s that simple.”

She gave a flustered smile and rolled her eyes before kissing my lips and patting my chest. “Thank you, but…it still knocked down my confidence a couple sizes. And besides, he really wants that job with my dad after he graduates. I didn’t want him to lose his chance at his dream future just because I didn’t like him anymore. That seemed…awful of me.”

I blinked at her. “Jesus, you really are a bleeding heart softie under that tough shell, aren’t you?”

She rolled her eyes. “Am not.”

She was. And I loved that about her too. Grinning, I said, “Too bad your dad doesn’t have the same soft spot.”

As my smile dropped to worry, Julianna pressed her forehead to mine. “Baby, look at me.”

When I did, she smiled. “Don’t worry so much about him, okay? You and I are a team, remember. We can get through this together.”