by Sam Crescent
“I know a way where I could keep my money and we could stay together.”
“Killing your parents?”
“Nope. Nothing as drastic as that.”
“Then I’m all ears,” she said. She was willing to listen to his reasoning no matter what.
“So, I’m thinking, you and me, we keep doing what we’re doing, keeping up appearances and stuff like that, then I pay for your college tuition. We move away from town, and I keep you as my little secret in the city.”
“And then when your parents want you to marry someone they decide?”
“You’ll always be with me.”
“You’re thinking of turning me into your mistress? You do see that, right?” she asked.
“Yes. But not as bad nor as seedy as you’re making it sound.”
She laughed. “Okay, then, tell me how you being married to someone else, having sex with them, and me being kept in the background isn’t anything like a mistress? How is that light and fluffy?”
“Saying it like that doesn’t make it sound great. I agree.”
“You agree?” she asked. She folded her arms across her chest.
“No, I don’t agree. I’m looking for solutions for us to be together.”
She started to laugh. “Okay, then if you’re being so stubborn and refuse to see it from my side of things, think of this. What if I was the one with the money? How about my parents pick me out a handsome, sexy guy for me to marry, and you’re the one that gets to have the cushy life but knowing when I’m not with you, there’s a chance I’m with my husband and we’re having sex.”
“No!” He yelled the word.
Pru knew in that second she had won. “See, if you can’t stand the same thought, then you and I both know this is a really bad idea.”
“Fuck.”
“Is it really so bad to live without money?” she asked. She’d never been rich or even well off. Money had always been a sore and uncomfortable topic at home. Nothing would ever change that. Her parents were always wanting to make more. It was one of the many reasons she was home alone. Not that it was a problem. She knew her parents were trying to make a good life for her. They didn’t want her to go without, even though she didn’t care about money. She never needed a brand-new phone or a new car.
Sean often drove her to school or she walked. It wasn’t a big deal.
“It’s okay for you. You know what it’s like to live without it. I don’t know that feeling. I’ve never experienced it.”
“Oh,” she said.
“Fuck, I don’t mean it as a bad thing.” He ran a hand down his face, looking increasingly frustrated. “I … you…”
“I get it, Drake. I do.” She couldn’t even be mad at him. He didn’t understand. He’d never been without money. “I can promise you, it’s not a scary thing. At least, not how you’re treating it. I survived.”
“That’s the thing, Pru, I don’t want us to survive.”
“So, we continue on with the path we’ve chosen.” She didn’t have anything else to say. “I don’t want to fight and no matter what, when we talk about the future or the past, we always do.”
“Pru?”
“We’ve only got a couple of days here. Let’s make the most of them. Can’t we at least do that right together?” she asked.
She saw he wanted to argue. In the time they had spent together, she had started to read his many tells. It saddened her how things were turning out between them. There was no future between them and of course, like always, she was trying to make it work. She had to learn to accept there was no way they could be together. They both wanted different things and even as they wanted each other, there were too many differences between them to make this work the way she wanted to.
It was time to just enjoy and to stop trying to change the outcome of their inevitable future.
****
Once again, the walk across the beach didn’t go to plan for Drake. He wanted to make this romantic but when their future was set to change in a matter of months, which neither of them wanted, it caused a few difficulties.
Arriving back at the house, Pru went into the kitchen and made them some food while he paced the sitting room.
He’d never been without luxury of some kind. It was second nature to him. Running his fingers through his hair, he tried to think of how to fix this mess. Why couldn’t he not fuck this up? No matter what he did or where he turned, he seemed to be constantly making a mess.
This is why it’s never going to work long-term.
Why not?
We don’t have to fuck this up.
Needing to see her, he moved toward the kitchen. He stood in the doorway and her back was to him, so he only got to watch her. She stood at the counter, chopping away at something, he didn’t know what. When he’d checked out the fridge, he saw it had an abundance of vegetables so he imagined they were having lots of them.
Not that it mattered.
He heard her sniffle and he couldn’t help but tense up.
She turned away from the counter and sure enough, she washed her hands, grabbed some tissues and clearly not realizing he was watching her, she sobbed into the tissue.
His heart fucking broke. “Please don’t cry.”
She gasped as she pulled down the tissue. “You’re not supposed to see this.”
“It’s kind of hard not to see it even with you trying to hide your face.”
“I’m fine. You don’t have to worry.”
“Stop trying to hide everything from me. I know I caused this.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t want to talk to you right now.”
“I know I’ve upset you.”
“It’s fine.”
“It’s not fine. Stop pretending everything is fine.”
“What do you want me to say? Look what you did to me? This isn’t supposed to be complicated, Drake. We keep saying the same old thing and we’re not getting over it.” She sighed. “I don’t want to argue with you. Not anymore. I think you should take me back home. It will be for the best.”
“No, I won’t.” He stepped right up to her, pulling her in his arms. “We’re not going to let this go. We’re going to resolve it.”
“How can we possibly resolve anything? We keep coming back to the same thing. Can’t you see we’re constantly going around in circles?”
“We don’t have to be. We’ve got to learn to compromise.”
She sighed then laughed. “You think I don’t know how to compromise? Look around you, Drake. This is me compromising. I’m not at home alone, or with Sean. I know you hate me talking about him, but tough. Live with it. I have to live with your hatred of him. You think he’s such a bad person, but I can promise you he is far from anything bad. He’s one of the best guys I know.”
Drake stepped away from her and closed his eyes. He counted to ten inside his head before staring at her. Again, they were back to that fucking pussy. He wasn’t going to let Sean get between them. No matter how often she threw that shit in his face. He didn’t need to keep on telling her the same thing. One day soon, Sean would show his true colors and when he did, Drake would accept Pru with open arms.
“Are you done?” he asked.
“Yeah, I’m done. I really think you should take me home.”
“Not going to happen. Not on my watch.” He folded his arms and stared at her. “My parents will destroy us. They have the power to and can do it easily. You think I don’t want to run away with you? All I can think about every second of every day is how I can spend time with you. This isn’t easy for me either.”
“It’s not easy for either of us.”
“Here’s the thing, Pru. I’m in love with you,” he said.
She gasped and put a hand to her face in shock.
“Yeah, I know. It surprised me as well.”
“We promised each other not to develop those feelings, Drake. You shouldn’t have said anything.”
“I can’t help the way I feel. I love you and I wan
t to spend the rest of my life with you. It’s hard for me when you constantly talk about what a good guy Sean is. You think there are times I don’t feel ashamed? Jealous?”
“Why would you be jealous of him? There is nothing to fear with him.”
He laughed. “He gets to hold you in front of everyone. He gets to be the guy by your side. He knows you, and what do I get?”
“You get all of me, Drake,” she said.
“Do I? We’re always fighting about the same thing. No, I can’t walk away. I’ve seen my parents in action. I know what they’re capable of and I know what they will do to you, your parents, and even me. They have all the power here. We won’t ever be able to run from them. They have all the power and we have nothing. I don’t want to lose you but unless you can come to me with some compromise, come May, we’re done.” He didn’t like how much it broke his heart to say it. He didn’t want either of them to be done. They had so much to give.
“I … Drake?”
“I don’t want you to tell me an answer now. I know it’s a hard decision to make. Yes, one day I could be married to someone else, but there is also a chance that I could become stronger than them. I could make sure they don’t hurt either of us and then we can live happily ever after.” He stepped back up to her and cupped her face, tilting her head back. “I know it’s what I want. For you and me to have a chance. Don’t you ever wonder what it could be like?”
“All the time,” she said. “Then I feel like I’m living in a fairytale land.”
“No. I think we’ve got a chance. You’ve just got to learn to trust me. Can you do that?”
“I don’t doubt you or your ability, Drake.”
Her lips were just too tempting to let go. Leaning down, he took possession of her mouth and she let out a little moan as he sank his fingers into her hair, holding her in place as he kissed her, deepening it. Sliding his tongue across her lips, he moved her back until she was sandwiched between the counter and his body.
Banding her arms around his neck, she cried out as he lifted her, pulling her against his body. He made sure she felt the hard ridge of his cock.
“Drake?”
“I know. I’m not going to do anything. I promise.”
Not until her birthday.
“Please,” she said.
“Don’t beg me, Pru. I can’t handle it when you beg so nicely.”
“I want you.”
He growled. Breaking from the kiss, he trailed his lips down to her neck but he kept his hands at her waist. “I promised myself I was going to be a good boy with you.”
She giggled. “I’m giving you permission and you want to be a good boy?” she asked.
“Always. I’ve hurt you enough and I promised myself no matter what, I would wait. This is me waiting for you.” He stroked her hair back. “You’re so beautiful.”
“You’re just saying that.”
“No, I’m really not. You may not believe this, Pru, but you’ve changed me in ways no one else ever could.” He was speaking the truth. There was no one else in the world who could make him feel this way.
They had fought so much and he wasn’t even talking about the bullying all those years ago. No, he was talking about their constant bickering. How neither of them would ever back down. He knew if this had been with anyone else, he’d have quit long ago, but no one he’d ever known was quite like Pru.
He was starting to think of her as more, as his Pru. Not Trash or any other word he used to call her. She was his just as he was hers. It was cliché as fuck, but he couldn’t bring himself to part from her. He didn’t want to part from her, ever.
“How about I finish us some food?” she asked. “We watch a movie or something? Maybe go for a walk.”
“Food sounds good. So long as I’m with you. I’ll do anything.”
“Just how long do I have this more amenable guy around?”
“Consider this a special gift as it’s your birthday.”
“Oh, I’m lucky?”
“That you are, baby. Really lucky. I will be on my best behavior from now until, well, we head back home Sunday.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Let’s not think about Sunday. Let’s just think about this weekend. Taking each moment as it comes and not freaking out about it. What do you think?”
“I like that sound of that.” He kissed her lips and when she moaned, the sound went straight to his cock. All he wanted to do was take her to his bed and have her.
You’ve got to take your time with her.
She’s a virgin.
You love her.
You want to care for her.
You don’t want to leave her.
Against all the odds, he had fallen for her, and now, he had to find some way to keep her. He wasn’t under any illusions about his parents. He knew they both cheated and there were men and women waiting for them back at any location where they put them.
You could just kiss your wealth goodbye and run.
It wasn’t the running away that scared him when it came to spending his time with Pru. Far from it. He’d gladly run anywhere she wanted to go so long as he got to spend every second with her.
No, it was what his parents would do to them.
They could run and he could live without his wealth but if they set out to destroy them, could he protect her? He honestly didn’t think he could, and that scared him. All he wanted to do was protect her. Love her. Take care of her.
The real truth was he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her without anyone interfering or thinking they could run their life. That wasn’t ever going to happen with his parents already making plans for him.
They always wanted what they did and he couldn’t figure out a single way to stop it, unless he became more powerful than them. The fortune becoming his, and he forcing their hand by being bigger, meaner, and turning the cards on them. It would take time.
He’d have to do it slowly so they didn’t suspect anything. He had his own ideas. Regardless of what others thought, he wasn’t stupid. There was a chance of him taking it all from them, and he would.
He watched Pru as she walked back to their food to finish it off. He would have her all to himself, and no one would ever harm her.
He’d make sure of it.
Chapter Eighteen
Birthday
Pru couldn’t believe she was eighteen today. It seemed almost too surreal to think of herself as an adult. Not that her age mattered. She’d been taking care of herself for a long time. At least since they moved to the new town all those years ago when she was just five years old.
Up until that point, she’d been a happy, oblivious child in the city, playing in the small garden. She had no idea her life would change so much, or that a small town could be so … different.
Then, of course, there was Drake, who she had left back at the beach house. Not to punish him or anything. She just needed a little time and space and the only way to get that was to leave him behind.
Running fingers through her hair, she tilted her face up to the sky and closed her eyes. She was alone with Drake. They had argued last night, but that seemed to always be in the cards for them. She hated arguing the most. There were times she wished she could rewrite their summer together. They shouldn’t have ever been alone in a room, let alone kissing or doing anything else.
The moment she started to think about not being around him, though, guilt flooded every inch of her. Could she really be so cruel to him? He’d done nothing wrong to her.
“It’s fine,” she said to no one.
“Are we talking to ourselves now?” Drake asked, startling her as he wrapped his arms around her waist.
“I guess we are.”
“It’s kind of sexy,” he said.
She giggled. “You’re a strange man, Drake. What do you really think is sexy?”
“You. The birthday girl.” He kissed her neck. “Do you feel any different?”
“Did you on your birthday?”
; “Nope. I was just older. I already did a lot of stuff eighteen-year-olds are allowed to do.”
“It doesn’t feel any different,” she said. “The view is breathtaking though.”
“The view always is.” He kissed her again. “I missed waking up beside you.”
“I didn’t want to disturb you and I wanted to see the sun rise.”
“I could have joined you.”
“You looked so peaceful, all asleep with nothing in the world to trouble you.” She turned in his arms. “I wasn’t excluding you. I just needed a short time to think.”
He stroked a curl out of the way. “I wish I could stop you from worrying.”
She chuckled. “What makes you think I was worrying?”
“I know you. I know you worry about everything and anything. I wish I could make it all stop for you.”
“You’re sweet.”
“I’m the best kind of guy.” He smiled. “I have a present for you back at the house.”
Her heart sped up at his words. She didn’t know what it was, just that it made her feel … alive when he talked like that.
She knew why he didn’t want to run away. The power his parents had. They scared him, not that he’d ever admit it.
“Can we just stay here a few more minutes?” she asked.
“It’s your birthday. We can stay here as long as you want.”
He didn’t let go of her, and she didn’t want him to. She wanted his arms wrapped around her so when they were apart, if they ever were because she still held hope, she would have these precious moments to remember.
Leaning back, she closed her eyes and just relaxed against his touch. Nothing could take this away from her. Not now.
“It’s your birthday and I have to wonder what you’d like to do on this magical day.”
She laughed. “Magical? How do you spend your birthdays?”
“I tend to get drunk. That’s how I do it.”
“Ah, drunk. Maybe we should do that?” she asked. “I’ve never been drunk before.”
“You haven’t?”
“Nope. Come on, my rebellious lover, show me how a real rebel parties.” She spun in his arms, wrapping hers around his neck.