“No way. I’m not letting you guys or your father pay my way. I can do this on my own. Not only that, but I want to do it.”
Tristan pulls my left hand into his, and his thumb rubs over my knuckles sweetly. “We know you’re more than capable of getting a scholarship and doing it all on your own. Your independent spirit is one of the many things we respect about you. Please don’t fight us on this, though; you’re not only deciding your future but ours as well. We don’t want to be away from you.”
Brent leans in. “Wherever you go, we want to be with you. You’re our present and our future.”
“But, how is that even fair? You each have different schools in mind, and yet, you’ll all have to give them up. I don’t want you to resent me for taking something so important away from you.”
Cole shakes his head, “We can go to any other college at any time in the future if we decide to. You’re the most important priority to us, and we’ll do whatever we need to in order to be with you.”
Their faces blur as tears fill my eyes. How could I possibly mean so much to not only one man, but to four of them that they’d change their lives just to be near me? I’ve heard that love means sacrifice, but this feels like it’s too much. “Is there a college you’ve all considered? I could try to get in there. That way, you’ll each be pleased as well.”
Tristan leans in and kisses my cheek. “There’s one place we’ll all be happy, and the only college we’ve considered is the one you’ll be attending.”
Brent agrees. “He’s right. We want to spend our lives with you.”
“You should be in med school or law school,” I tell Axel. “Tristan should be playing football. Brent should be studying nutrition or athletics, and Cole should be in engineering or something to do with cars. How can I possibly find a school that you four will enjoy? How would it be fair of me to take away what you deserve to have?”
Axel releases a pent-up breath and argues, “Actually I’ve already studied a large portion in both subjects. I plan to major in business finance as I’m set to work with my father and eventually take over his company.”
“Wow.” I knew he helped his dad out, but I didn’t realize he’d be taking the entire company over.
“I’ll, uh, be going for a medical degree,” Brent admits, his cheeks flushing.
He’s smarter than I’d ever considered. I always write him off as the brooding older brother who’s in amazing physical shape, that it’s easy to push aside that he’s also an intelligent caretaker.
Tristan shrugs. “I might play some ball, sugar plum, but my father wants me to attend law school.”
I’m not surprised as he’s smart and bossy and not afraid to argue with anyone.
“Cole?” I ask and meet his patient stare.
“With Axel’s sketches, I’ve submitted a few designs and signed a contract with Lamborghini.”
I nearly choke. “Y-you what? You designed an entire car?”
He nods. “Along with the engine, transmission, and weight specs.”
“So, you basically built a car from the ground up? How the heck did I miss this, and when have you had the time to do something so huge? Jesus, congrats, I’m proud of you!”
His grin widens. “Thanks, beba. It’s not a big deal.”
I launch myself into his arms and scoff. “It’s a huge deal. You’re still in high school, and you have a contract with Lamborghini!”
He presses a chuckled kiss to my forehead before letting me go to sit back in my spot. “It helps that my father has bought a few cars from them, I suppose. So, to answer your question, I’ll probably start with a basic business degree and switch to some sort of engineering and design afterward. We all try to stay busy when we’re not able to be with you. This is what I’ve been doing.”
Axel squeezes my knee. “What about you, my love? What will you do with that brilliant mind?”
Truthfully, I have no idea. My big plan was to do whatever I had to, just to get a scholarship. I never really gave it much consideration as to what I’d do once I got to college. The important part was just getting there on my own merit. “I don’t know,” I admit softly. “I never had the option to make a real choice. I was expecting to take whatever I could get and then go from there.”
Brent rubs soothing circles along my lower back and rumbles. “Now you can do whatever you want. The choice is at your fingertips, and we’ll support you no matter what.”
“I think I want to help people,” I admit softly and gain four approving grins in return.
My chest grows tight with emotion. Their love and support means everything to me, and now they’re making it possible for me to live my dreams without the struggle of getting my foot in the door. They’re offering me the world just as Axel promised me the day he came clean about what the guys had been up to with my father.
“Yes,” I declare out of the blue, drawing their gazes as I slip the multicolored sparkling diamond ring on my right-hand ring finger. I stare lovingly at each color. The green represents Cole with his calm, laid-back nature. Black reminds me of Brent’s brooding but protective instinct. The sapphire is for Tristan, as he stands out with his outgoing and charismatic personality, and last but not least, the teal for Axel. The color seems rarer, with a mixture of the three others, yet still beautiful and completely unique on its own.
“Yes, what, beba?” Cole wonders.
“Yes, I’ll happily wear this ring. Yes, I’ll marry Tristan. Yes, I’ll have a private ceremony to commit to each of you. Yes, I’ll pick a college for us. Yes, I’ll spend my life with you four.” I share my gaze between each man as I profess my answers and beam with love for them.
Getting to my feet, they follow suit and I say, “I love you, each one of you with all of my heart. Thank you for ruining my life, just to love me fiercely, care for me deeply, and offer me my dreams.”
They each murmur I love you and then I’m wrapped, snuggling in one embrace after another. I’ll love them with every breath I take. One important thing they’ve taught me is that I can do anything, even love four men. The first choice I’m making is to spend my life with Brent, Tristan, Axel, and Cole.
As for everything else…we’ll take it one decision at a time—together.
The End
Love doesn’t fit in one little box we check. It can be messy and hurtful, but overall, it can be so fucking beautiful. I hope you enjoyed falling for these four as much as I have. Thank you for reading this duet, and I hope you’ll let me know your thoughts by leaving a review.
-Sapphire Knight
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