come up with, and while I’m tempted to throw an “eh” out at him, there’s no way I can do it with any conviction. My limbs are jelly.
I cringe as he pulls out, and Beck’s forehead wrinkles with concern. “Sore?”
“I can take it.”
He drops the condom on the side of the bed and falls back on top of me again. “You sure you’re okay?”
“Never better.”
As I hug him against my chest and get taken over by all those soft, happy emotions, it really hits me how true those words are.
I’ve literally never been better.
28
Beck
It’s move-in day at the dorms, but Jacobs and I are still in bed in the hotel when my phone wakes us.
“Who’s calling so early,” I grumble into my pillow. “They’re ruining moving day!”
Jacobs reaches over me to get my phone off the bedside table. “It’s the same person who’s been calling you nonstop.”
“Ugh. I should block his number.”
“Don’t make me call you Teddy,” Jacobs says. “You need to talk to your father at some point.”
“I really don’t. I already know what he’s going to say. I can’t be in a gay relationship, I can’t fuck around anymore, and I need to prepare to become his successor. Blah, blah, blah. I’ve heard it since I was in high school.”
Jacobs’s warmth covers me as he throws his leg over mine.
I’m on my stomach with my arms underneath my pillow, and I turn my head to look at him.
“Maybe he wants to apologize?”
“Clearly you have no idea who Theodore Beckett is. He’s probably calling to tell me he’s not paying for my tuition and is cutting me off.”
Jacobs’s face falls. “Shit, would he really do that?”
“He’d at least threaten it until I pulled in line. He’s never wrong, he never backs down, and he gets the final word … unless it’s anything Mom wants.”
“Maybe your mom talked to him. Maybe she got through to him.” The optimism in my boyfriend’s voice is sweet, but so fucking naïve. “Side note on your mom though … Are her boobs made of rocks?”
“Don’t talk about my mother’s boobs. Please.”
“No, seriously, when she hugged me, it hurt. Like, she squished cement blocks into my chest. And did she say she was at a Playboy mansion party? How cool is that?”
I bury my face in my pillow. “She was a Playboy Playmate.” The sound is muffled, but he hears it.
“I thought she looked familiar.”
I turn my head and growl at him. “Don’t even. And don’t even think about telling anyone on the team. Or anyone at Colchester.”
“I wouldn’t do that. I promise. I do still think your mom is cool though. And she didn’t give a shit about us. Maybe she did talk to your dad.”
The phone rings again.
Jacobs kisses my cheek. “Answer it. I’m gonna jump in the shower, and then we’ll head to campus.”
I roll on my side and stare at the screen with my father’s name on it.
Maybe I should rip off the Band-Aid.
With a deep breath, I suck it up and just get it over with. I hit Answer, but I have no voice.
“Teddy? Hello? If this is your damn voicemail again—”
“It’s me, Dad.”
“Ah. Well …”
Silence fills the line.
“You’ve been calling me repeatedly to say ‘Well’?”
“Yes, well, ah …” He clears his throat. “I expected you not to answer again. We have things to discuss.”
“Pretty sure we don’t. My future is my own, and I’m done—”
“I have a proposition for you.”
I sigh. “Let me guess. You’re willing to overlook the boyfriend thing if I put my head down and work really hard to be your minion.”
“Would you shut that mouth of yours for five seconds?” Dad grumbles.
Eww, why did my dad suddenly remind me of Jacobs? I shudder.
“If you want something more than Beckett Enterprises as your future, you need to have a backup plan.”
“A … backup plan?” I can’t have heard right.
“Have you registered for your classes this semester yet?”
I grunt. “Yeah, weeks ago. Why?”
“Oh. I thought that happened during your first week.”
“Everything’s online now.” You ancient dinosaur.
“Well, is it too late to change classes or switch majors?”
I’m confused. So fucking confused. “Yeah, like a year too late.”
There’s another beat of silence before he says, “It’s up to you to change that.”
“I don’t get it,” I say.
“If you want out of the business, you need to prove you have a different life planned out. One that is sustainable. You can’t live on your trust fund forever.”
I actually think I could, technically. It’s worth more than what a lot of