He nods. “Of course. Let me know if Hudson’s computer isn’t fast enough and we’ll see about getting you a new one.”
I scowl, about to remind him that I don’t want any favors, and he laughs.
“Oh, c’mon. It’ll be Lockwood Construction property. I’ll bolt it to the desk, how’s that?”
I nod, careful to keep my face neutral. “I guess that would be okay.”
“Do you have enough saved to cover tuition?” he asks lightly. “Or are you going to try for financial aid?”
I answer him carefully. “It actually isn’t as ridiculously expensive as I thought it would be since it’s just community college, and they have a payment program, so tuition isn’t due all at once.”
“But you’ll tell me if you need anything?”
I shoot him a glare. “Ethan, I’ll be fine.”
He holds up his hands in innocence. “All right, but I’m your boyfriend, Taylor. It’s not a crime for me to care about you or want to provide for you. I respect what you’re doing and I’ll honor your boundaries, but if you ever feel like you’re in a place like you were that night at the bar, I want you to come to me. Don’t let that stubborn streak of yours stand in your way. Why are you smiling like that? You should still be scowling.”
“You said you’re my boyfriend.”
“I also said a lot of stuff after that—important stuff.”
“I wasn’t listening.”
He growls, reaches over, and hauls me toward him so I collide with his chest. I expect my weight to topple him over, but he stays right where he is, with the post at his back and the golden hour casting him in a warm glow. He’s beautiful.
“You’ll have to repeat it,” I continue, my attention on his lips.
“I can’t, not now that you’re on my lap,” he says, moving his hand to cradle my chin and tilt it up. His thumb brushes across my bottom lip and I shiver.
“Sorry,” I tease. “No time for seduction these days. I’m a college student now. I have books to read, papers to write, tests to ace.”
He smirks. “If you had been in my classes in college, I would have failed every test.”
“Really?” I shake my head, sure I have a more accurate representation of what the two of us would have been like in college together. “I think we would have developed a healthy competition. Who could get the better grades…that sort of thing. I’ll have you know, I’m actually smarter than I look.”
His grin widens. “Believe me, I know.”
With that he scoops me up and stands, carrying me across the threshold of the cabin like we’re husband and wife. It still feels like we have so much to discuss. We have crazy weeks ahead of us. I want to head back to Oak Dale for my mom’s graduation, and when McKenna is ready to go to camp in Austin, I think it’d be fun if we drove her there. That way, she and Ethan can get to know each other a little better.
I don’t start classes for a few weeks, but I’m eager to order my textbooks and start prepping. I want new pencils and a fresh planner and the course syllabus and my reading schedule, and mostly I just want a chance to be the kind of student I could have been if my life had been different in high school.
Ethan pushes the door closed, and that’s when I notice something’s different about the cabin.
Very different.
“When did you do this?!”
He’s grinning. “After I finished the roof.”
“How?”
“It was easy. The bunks each had a twin bed frame supported by posts. I unscrewed the post supports, separated them from the frames, and viola…”
Now, there’s just one big bed shoved against the wall of the cabin, across from the desk. It’s totally impractical. The cabin is small and now there’s hardly any room to walk. We’ll have to shimmy around the bed to get to the bathroom and the dresser, but somehow, I love it, and I wouldn’t change a thing about any of it. That’s the desk where I’ll study, and that’s the bed where Ethan will distract me, and this is where I’ll start taking the steps to change my life.
Forever.
“Ethan?”
“Yeah?”
“Did I ever tell you how crazy it is that we ended up together? Me and you, the most coldhearted boss I’ve ever had. You, the man who drives me crazy. You, the person I think I’m starting to fall for.”