FOREVER SERIES: COMPLETE BOX SET

by Lynn, Sandi

  “I love you too, Collin.”

  I rolled off of her and onto the other side of her small bed. As much as I loved being with her at her place, it was way too small for two people. We both lay there, and I wrapped my arm around her. She placed her hand on me and began to stroke my chest.

  “That is so nice of your dad to buy you your own place. I’m so happy for you.”

  “He has his motives.” I laughed.

  “What do you mean?”

  “As much as my mom and dad love having me at home, it’s cramping their sex life because I’m always catching them starting to do things in places other than their bedroom and I yell at them. Plus my dad thinks I’m old enough and responsible to be on my own. Not to mention the fact that I’m always complaining about how small your place is.” I smiled.

  “Yeah, it kind of sucks here doesn’t it?”

  “Nah. Anywhere with you is perfect. Except when I can’t fuck you against the wall.”

  She giggled. I moved my arm and leaned over, licking her breast before sucking her hardened nipple. “Okay, baby. I should go. You have to be up early and so do I.”

  “I want you to stay,” she pouted.

  “I want to stay but I told my mom I’d be home tonight. Soon, we won’t have to say goodbye like this. You can spend the night at my place, and I’ll drive you to school and to your clinicals in the morning.”

  “I can’t wait.” She smiled as she kissed me goodbye.”

  Chapter 25

  Amelia and I stayed up and Facetimed until two in the morning. I never wanted to leave her. The next morning, before getting out of bed, I grabbed my phone from my nightstand and saw a text message from Hailey.

  “Hi, Collin. I was wondering if we could talk. I told my parents last night and they are really upset, and I need to talk to someone.”

  I sighed. I didn’t know if it was such a good idea. The fact that she hurt me really bad wasn’t even a factor anymore. I was over it and everything happened for a reason. We did grow up together and have known each other since birth, so I guess I owed it to her to listen.

  “I guess. I’ll text you later when I’m available.”

  “Thanks. I appreciate it.”

  I took a shower, got dressed, ran down the stairs and followed the amazing scent of French toast and coffee.

  “Good morning, Mom.” I smiled as I walked over and kissed her.

  “Good morning, Dad,” I said as I poured a cup of coffee.

  “You’re in a great mood today, son,” he said.

  “That’s because things are good.”

  I sat down at the table and my mom set down a plate of French toast in front of me.

  “Have you spoken to Hailey?” my mom asked.

  “Not really. Why?”

  “Peyton and Henry are really worried about her. All she’s been doing lately is staying locked in her room. Did something happen in Italy?”

  “Yeah, she got knocked up,” I blurted out as I took a bite of my French toast.

  “WHAT!” my mom exclaimed.

  “I’m surprised Aunt Peyton didn’t call you. She told them last night.”

  “That’s a shame,” my dad said as he took a sip of his coffee.

  “Peyton did call me last night, but I didn’t answer because your father and I were in the middle of—”

  “STOP! Can’t you just say that you were busy? Do you always have to be so detailed?”

  I looked at my dad as he sat there laughing.

  “It’s not funny, Dad. How would the both of you like it if I brought Amelia here and had wild sex and were so loud, you could hear us in any room of the house?”

  “Collin, that’s not cool,” my mom said.

  “EXACTLY! Now you get how I feel. I don’t like the thought of my parents having sex. That’s just…just…”

  “Okay, son. We get it. We’ll try to be more careful with what we say,” my dad said.

  “You’ve been saying that for years,” I said as I rolled my eyes.

  “Well, I’m going to call Peyton. Now I feel horrible.” My mom kissed me on the head and walked upstairs.

  My dad got up from his seat and put his plate in the dishwasher. “Ralph is driving me in the office today. Are you joining me or are you driving yourself?”

  “I’m driving myself.”

  “Okay. I’ll see you at the office,” my dad said.

  “Have fun with Ralphie.” I laughed.

  My dad stopped and turned around. “He is a bit strange.”

  I laughed as I got up from my chair and grabbed my keys from the kitchen counter.

  As I pulled in the parking garage of Black Enterprises, my phone rang. I pulled it from my pocket, and it was my girl calling.

  “Good morning, baby.”

  “Good morning. How was your breakfast?”

  “It was great. I wish you were there.”

  “My clinicals were cancelled for today so my friend Gina and I are going to the library for the day and study for our exams that are coming up. Plus I have a research paper that’s due tomorrow.”

  “Okay, babe. Have a good day, and I’ll see you later. I love you.”

  “I love you too.”

  As soon as I got to my office, my secretary, Blythe stopped me. “Mr. Black, your father wants to see you in his office.”

  “I just saw him thirty minutes ago.”

  She shrugged and went back to typing on her computer. I stepped into my office, set my brief case down, grabbed a cup of coffee and headed across the hall to his office.

  “Morning, Diana. How are you?”

  “Good morning, Collin. I’m good. After you meet with your father, can I talk to you for a minute?”

  “Sure. Let me go see what the old man wants.” I winked.

  I opened the door and he had just hung up the phone. “Come in and have a seat.”

  “What’s up?”

  “Congratulations, son. We just landed the Firman deal.” He smiled.

  “What the fuck! Are you serious?”

  “Yes, I’m dead serious?”

  “How did that happen? I basically told Mr. Firman to fuck off after all the shit he tried to pull with the deal.”

  “I guess he liked you and your ‘I don’t give a shit if you don’t go with us’ attitude.”

  I sat there as my dad smiled at me. I knew how proud he was, and it made me happy. Black Enterprises was going to be my company one day and I was going to make sure it stayed strong and successful, just like my dad did when he took it over from my grandfather.

  “You’re getting a huge bonus, son. I’m taking you to lunch later and we’re going to celebrate.” He smiled.

  “Thanks, Dad.” I smiled as I shook his hand.

  I walked out of this office and stopped at Diana’s desk. “I heard the good news. Congratulations.”

  “Thanks. What did you want to talk about? Is Jacob okay?”

  “He had his doctor appointment yesterday and I told him how much better Jacob was doing after you took him surfing. Unfortunately, it didn’t last once we got back to the city. The doctor told me that the ocean water would definitely help Jacob because of the high content of saline in it. You knew that, didn’t you?”

  I pursed my lips and gave a small smile. “I was hoping it would work. I had been doing some research and I came across several articles that stated it’s the natural way of helping patients with Cystic Fibrosis. I hate to tell you this, Diana, but I think you need to move to the ocean.”

  “Yeah right, Collin. There’s no way I can afford that. Plus, I’d have to pack up and move somewhere where it’s warm all year long.”

  “California,” I said with seriousness.

  “Don’t be silly. Go back to your office. I have work to finish for your father before he fires me.” She winked.

  I placed my hand on her shoulder and smiled at her before I walked away. As I walked down the hall, she called my name. I turned around and looked at her.

  “Thank
you.” She smiled.

  I nodded my head, put my hands in my pocket, and went back to my office.

  * * *

  “Here’s to your sometimes-lousy attitude.” My dad smiled as he held up his scotch.

  I brought my glass to his. “Thanks, Dad. I appreciate it.”

  “I called your mom to come and join us but she’s with Peyton. I wonder how that’s going.”

  “Oh shit. I forgot about Hailey.”

  “What are you talking about, son?”

  “Hailey sent me a text message this morning asking if she could talk to me because Peyton and Henry were really upset about her being pregnant and I told her I would.”

  “Are you going to tell, Amelia?”

  “I didn’t plan on it. Why? It’s only a quick talk.”

  “Son, if I’ve learned anything at all in life, it’s NEVER keep anything from the woman you love. Even if it’s the smallest insignificant thing. You really need to trust me on that one.”

  His phone rang and as he answered it, I pulled out mine and sent a text message to Amelia.

  “I love you, baby.”

  “I love you too. I hope your day is going good.”

  “It’s the best day ever. Well, except when I first laid eyes on you. I’ll tell you all about it later.”

  “Lol. I can’t wait.”

  My dad hung up from his call and smiled. “The realtor is on her way to the apartment now. I told her we’d meet her there in fifteen minutes.”

  “Great, let’s go,” I said as I reached in my pocket and pulled out my keys.

  We drove to the building and when we stepped off the elevator, my heart started racing when I saw the realtor. Shit. I thought to myself. She turned and looked at us as she unlocked the door across from Julia and Jake’s apartment.

  “Hello there, Mr. Black. What a small world.”

  “Yes, it is,” I said as my dad and I stepped inside the apartment.

  “You already know my son?” my dad asked.

  Shit.

  “Yes, I do. We just closed the deal on the house in the Hamptons.” She smiled.

  My dad grabbed the back of my neck. “Is that so?” he said as he looked at me.

  I wiggled out of his grip and smiled at Macy, the realtor. “Let’s see this great apartment, shall we?”

  She showed us around and I fell in love with it. I could see myself making this my home. A home for me and Amelia someday.

  “What do you think, son?” my dad asked.

  “I love it, Dad. Plus you and mom are right upstairs so if you ever need me, I can be up in a flash. Julia and Jake are right across the hall. I need to be close to my family. I tried to sugarcoat it, so he wouldn’t yell at me once we’re alone about the beach house.

  My dad looked at me and rolled his eyes. “We’ll take it. I can write you a check right now so my son can have the keys. I’m sure he’s dying to move in.

  “Brilliant. Let me run downstairs and grab the paperwork from my car and we can settle this today.”

  As soon as she walked out of the apartment, my dad walked up and smacked me on the back of the head.

  “What the hell did you do?”

  “Ouch, Dad. Stop with the hands. Okay, I bought Amelia’s parent’s house in the Hamptons.”

  “What did I tell you when you asked me to buy it?”

  “I know, but please listen to me. That house means everything to her, and she was sad when it sold but she needed the money so bad. I want to make it our home someday. Like you did for mom.”

  My dad sighed and walked over to the window. “She’s the one for you. Isn’t she?”

  “Yes, Dad, she is. She’s my entire world now. I thought I was in love with Hailey when we were together, but I wasn’t. Yeah, I loved her, don’t get me wrong, but I didn’t know what actual love was until I met Amelia. I feel things for her that I never felt for Hailey. I have new emotions, new feelings, things I can’t explain. I want to protect her and shield her from all the bad in the world. I want to help her get better and I want to spend my life with her. Dad, I can actually envision a future with her and kids. I know it seems weird to you and you’re thinking it’s too soon, but she’s the love of my life and I’ll do anything to make her happy. And if buying the house where she had one last good memory of her family before they were torn away from her makes her happy, then damn right I’m going to do it.”

  The realtor walked back into the apartment with all the necessary paperwork and my dad signed it and wrote a check. She handed over the keys to me and smiled all the way out the door.

  “It’s not weird,” my dad said.

  “What?” I asked in confusion.

  “I don’t think what you said, or think is weird because I would have done the same thing for your mom. I’ve dedicated my entire life to making her happy, whatever the cost may be. I know that feeling and I get it, son. I’m proud of you. You bought your first property.” He smiled as he put his arm around me. “Now we can work on the payment plan for this place.”

  “What? I thought you were buying this for me, like you did for Julia?”

  “But the difference is Julia didn’t already buy a house.” He smiled.

  “Dad, come on.”

  He chuckled as he hooked his arm around my neck, and we took the elevator up to the penthouse.

  Chapter 26

  “Ellery, where are you?” my dad yelled through the penthouse.

  “I’m right here, Connor,” she said as she came down the stairs.

  “Ask your son what he did.”

  “You mean besides closing a huge deal for Black Enterprises?” She smiled as she walked over and kissed my cheek. “Congratulations, sweetheart.”

  “Thanks, Mom.”

  “Yes, Ellery, besides that.”

  “What did you do, Collin?”

  I took in a deep breath before I answered her. “I bought Amelia’s parents’ beach house in the Hamptons.”

  “Oh. Is that what you wanted me to know so badly, Connor?”

  “Dad was mad,” I said.

  “That house meant a lot to Amelia. We talked about it not too long ago when I asked her how things were going. She told me that she was really sad that she had to sell it because she wanted it to be a place where she could go and feel close to her family every summer. You are so much like your father, Collin. I see more and more of him in you every day.” She smiled as she brought her hand up to my face. “Good for you! Are you going to tell her?”

  “No, not yet. I want to wait until I see how things go with us. Plus, I don’t want her to be mad at me for doing it.”

  “She’ll think you are the most incredible and giving person on the face of this earth.” She smiled.

  “Thanks again, Mom. Excuse me, I need to get something to drink,” I said as I walked to the kitchen. I heard my mom raise her voice at my dad and I stood out of sight and listened to their conversation.

  “As for you, Mister. How the hell could you be mad at your son for doing exactly what you would have done? You should be very proud of him Connor. You are an amazing father and you taught your son well.”

  “I am proud of him, Elle. He’s an incredible man. I just wish—”

  “You wish he would have asked your opinion first, right? You weren’t mad at him for buying that house. You were hurt because your son made a responsible adult purchase on his own. Connor, you’re scared that Collin doesn’t need you anymore, aren’t you?”

  “Yeah, something like that,” he said.

  I didn’t stop to think about my dad’s feelings. He was afraid of letting me go like he was with Julia. Damn, I wish I would have talked to him about it first. I didn’t realize he would feel not needed. As soon as they were finished talking, I walked out to the foyer.

  “Hey, Dad. I’m sorry about not talking to you before buying the house. I know that I probably should have consulted you first, but I really wanted to do something on my own. I’m sorry.”

  “Come here, son,”
he said as he hugged me. “Don’t be sorry. You’re an adult and you can do whatever you want. Just know that I’m always here for you no matter what and I always will be.”

  “Thanks, Dad.” I smiled.

  “Now go on and get out of here. Your mom and I have some things to do.” He winked.

  I shook my head and rolled my eyes. “Have fun.”

  “Oh, I fully intend to,” he said as he walked up the stairs.

  * * *

  I made Amelia close her eyes as I put the key in the lock. I opened the door and took her hand and led her inside.

  “Okay, you can open your eyes.”

  “Oh my God! This is amazing,” she said as she looked around the apartment.

  “I’m happy you like it.” I smiled.

  She walked through the living room and into the kitchen. I thought she was going to have a heart attack when she saw the dining area and the five large windows that made up one wall.

  “Oh the romantic dinners we can have here.” She smiled.

  I walked over to her and wrapped my arms around her waist. “You’re going to be spending a lot of time here.”

  “I hope so,” she said as she leaned her head back and I kissed her lips.

  “Look around. What do you see?” I asked.

  She escaped from my arms and walked through the apartment, looking up and down and all around. “Hmm…I see nothing but a lot of wall space.”

  I smiled. “That’s right. Do you know what that means?” I asked as I unbuttoned my pants.

  She turned around and looked at me as she bit down on her bottom lip with a wide smile across her face. “Lots and lots of wall sex!” she said as she lifted off her shirt.

  “That’s right. Lots of wall sex and I think we should start now.” I smiled as I threw my shirt on the floor and took down my pants.

  She stood in the middle of the empty room, stepping out of her jeans, while unhooking her bra and slowing inching backwards until she was up against the wall.

  “Fuck,” I said as I walked towards her.

  I was already as hard as rock and I hadn’t even touched her yet. I took down my underwear as soon as I reached her. I stepped out of them and kicked them to the side as I firmly planted my hands against the wall on each side of her head. I teased her with my lips. Kissing her slowly and softly. She wasted no time stroking me up and down slowly, driving me insane. My hand traveled down to her wet pussy as I cupped it before slipping my fingers inside.