My acceptance letter sits on the table between us and I find myself reading over it for the millionth time, only my mood isn’t soaring anymore. My whole world fell apart as soon as I finished reading the opening sentence and got further into the details of what it means to be a college student.
Finance.
“Jade, come on,” Colton says, reaching across the table and taking my hand. “I don’t know what you're freaking out about. I've got you. If you want to go to college, then I’ll sort it out. Why are you worrying about this so much?”
“I’m not taking your money, Colton,” I say, looking up to meet his eyes while wondering how the hell Mom and I are going to make this work. The fee structure is insane and I already know without even trying that I’m not exactly the greatest candidate for a student loan. “You’re my boyfriend, not my sugar daddy. I've already let you get away with paying for my school fees. It’s not about to happen again. I can take care of myself. I’ll find a way.”
“Babe, come on,” he groans. “Do you have any idea how frustrating it is knowing that you’re going to sit here and panic over paying it when I could have the tuition transferred and paid by the time we’ve finished dinner?”
“Gee, thanks for rubbing my nose in it.”
“That’s not what I’m doing and you know it. I don’t want to see you going through that kind of torture when I could take it away for you.”
I shake my head. “No, I’m sorry, but no. I’m not tying myself to you financially. Mom and I will talk about it tomorrow and see what we can come up with.”
Colton falls back into his chair and stares blankly at me. “You’re serious about this? You’re really going to let a little stubbornness and your need to feel independent potentially stop you from attending college?”
“Dead serious,” I tell him, “I’m going whether I can pay for it or not so don’t worry about that. My independence is important to me and I’ll come out the other end with it still intact, but if I find out that you’ve gone behind my back and paid my fees, hell will rain down on you, Mr. Carrington.”
He sighs and from the guilty expression that cuts across his face, it’s clear that was exactly what he had intended to do. “Fine,” he groans while rolling his eyes at my stubborn nature. “If this is how you really want to do it then you have options, a few actually.”
I raise my brow and lean in, paying close attention while equally shocked that he’s actually entertaining the idea of me doing this on my own. “Like?” I question, ready to hang off his every word.
“There are all sorts of things,” he says. “Student loans, financial aid, grants. You could apply for a scholarship and if you really want to be independent about it, I could loan you the money.”
I shake my head at his last suggestion but feel my mind whirling with possibilities. “I doubt I’ll be accepted for student loans or any of the financial aid.”
“Don’t write it off too soon,” he tells me. “You work and your mom works, you shouldn’t have any problems getting financial aid. Not to mention, my dad was good friends with the dean of UBS. So, if all else fails, I could put in a good word and see if he’ll consider you for a payment plan.”
“Really?” I question, my eyes going wide as my hope slowly begins to resurface.
“Yeah, Jade. I can see how much you want this. You’ve set your boundaries and as much as I hate that I can’t help you with this, I respect that. So, I’m going to do everything else in my power to make this happen for you.”
His words send my heart racing with warmth and as my blood circulates throughout my body, that warmth spreads until I’m completely overwhelmed by his love.
I reach across the table and find his hand already waiting. He gives it a gentle squeeze and just like that, I fall a little bit harder. Maybe Drix was onto something. Maybe I’m already there. The thought of completely giving myself to someone again scares the shit out of me but more and more, I'm starting to trust that he’s not going to break me.
We finish our dinner and before we know it, we’re standing out the front of the restaurant, waiting for the valet to return his Veneno.
“Let me get this straight,” I say, folding into his side. “You’ll let random valets drive your car, but you won’t let me even breathe near the steering wheel?”
Colton presses his lips into a tight line and I see the string of responses flying through his mind while he tries to decipher the right thing to say. “Well, umm … fuck,” he cringes. “I guess you’re right.”