been around here long enough to know who I am,” he says, raising his chin and trying to appear intimidating and to anyone who wasn’t born and raised in Breakers Flats, it might have worked but to us, he’s like a cute little puppy begging for attention. “I have a reputation. I’m not exactly the kind of guy that parents want keeping their daughters company.”
Mom laughs and steps right into Spencer’s personal space before clutching his chin like a proud parent. “That’s sweet, darling. I’m sure all of you boys are the toughest, manliest men around.” She pats his cheek before glancing down at the pizza boxes. “Be sure to eat up, you boys are going to need all your energy to grow big and strong.”
With that, she walks out of the room and all eyes fall on me.
“What?” I demand. “I can’t help it that my mom thinks you guys are sweet little puppy dogs. You’ve got to understand that she comes from a town where the ‘tough’ guys are the heroes of gang war and facing down death every day. This here, despite all the bullshit, this is a breath of fresh air.”
“We’re tough,” Charlie comments. “You know we can handle our shit.”
“Oh, yeah. Of course you can,” I smile sweetly before glancing at Milo. “You seemed all too quiet during that.”
He shrugs his shoulders. “Because I’ve got nothing to say. I’m not tough and all you fuckers know it. There’s no point defending it.”
I shake my head. “To be honest,” I tell him. “I think you’re actually one of the toughest guys I know.”
Milo gives me a warm smile before Colton’s low voice rumbles throughout the room. “Alright,” he says, pressing a kiss to my temple. “Stop fucking with the boys. I have work to do.”
“The fuck you do,” Spencer says. “You work every fucking day. You’re staying right here with us and fucking around. Your work will be waiting for you tomorrow.”
He cringes, looking toward the door. “I don’t know, man. Do you have any idea how much shit there is to do? I doubt I’ll be at school this week either.”
Milo drops back down into the couch with a slice of pizza in his hands. “Apply for distance learning. The teachers will just email your work and you submit it before the due date. Easy fix. You’ll still be able to graduate and work at the same time. You’re Colton Fucking Carrington and your father was on the board, I doubt they’re going to deny you.”
Relief washes off him in waves and within the blink of an eye, Colton looks a million times lighter. “Huh,” he grunts, dropping back onto the couch and dragging me down beside him. “I didn’t think of that. It’s not a bad idea.”
“So, you’re going to do it?” I question, leaning forward and grabbing one of the many pizza boxes off the coffee table and putting it on my lap. I cross my legs under myself and get comfortable while Colton steadies the box on my lap.
“Yeah, why not?” he says as Spencer lounges back on the couch beside Milo and turns on the TV. He instantly starts scanning through his options and ends up settling for the Victoria Secret runway show that immediately gains all their attention—though Milo’s watching for a completely different reason. “I need everything to go back to normal around here and if I can get on top of everything, then maybe normal might be a possibility.”
“I hate to break it to you,” I say, “but I don’t think your version of normal is ever going to come back. This is the new normal and you just have to find a way to make it work.”
He lets out a sigh, not appearing the least bit interested by the beyond beautiful angels strutting the runway in their diamond bras. “I know,” he says as he stretches out on the couch and turns to give me his full attention. ‘“But for everyone who’s in business with Carrington Incorporated, all they see is uncertainty. They think I’m just some unqualified eighteen-year-old kid taking over and not knowing what the fuck I’m doing. I have to get this back on track before I lose them and destroy everything my father built.”
I purse my lips, trying to figure out some way to help him out when it hits me. “Have a party.”
Colton bites back a laugh as Charlie gapes at me. “Okay,” he says, turning his stare at Colton. “I take