“Look here, boy. You have no right to stand there and question my parenting skills. Until you have raised a little girl all by yourself since she was six years old with no one in the world but you responsible for her, you have no right to tell me how to do my job. I know my Julianna. And I know how to protect her.”
“Yeah, no. No, you don’t,” Colton said, shaking his head. “I think you forgot one little detail when you were raising her up right to be a strong, independent, intelligent woman. She actually became a fucking strong, independent, intelligent woman. She doesn’t need you to support her. If she wanted to, she could still do everything she’s doing now without you. It may take her longer and put more stress on her, but she’d get that shit done. So all you’re really doing right now is cutting yourself out of her life because of your own issues. You’re hurting her by making it damn clear you don’t trust or support the decisions she’s made. You’re…you’re just being a fucking prick right now.”
“Colton,” I said softly and touched his arm to calm him down.
He huffed out a breath and tore his glare from my father. When his gaze met mine, his shoulders slumped. “Well, he is,” he muttered.
“My ultimatum stands,” Dad stated, gazing between us. “I’ll give you twenty-four hours to make your final decision.” Then he strode out of the apartment, leaving a wake of silent shock behind him.
I looked at Colton.
He blew out a breath, fell onto the couch and finally lifted his gaze to me. Something punched me hard in the center of the chest, and I realized it was doom. What was worse, I could see the same doom reflected on his face.
“Wow,” he rasped. I swear his voice was shaking with nerves. It scared me.
It scared me because it meant he was as rattled by all this as I was.
Shoving his hand through his hair, he gave a quiet, non-amused laugh and shook his head. “He really doesn’t want us to be together, does he?”
Fear trickled through my arms, chilling them. I hugged myself, seeking warmth. Seeking comfort. “No,” I murmured. “It doesn’t seem that way.”
I’d never seen Colton’s brown eyes look so sad before. “Baby doll, I don’t want your dad to punish you and threaten your education because of me.”
“Well, I don’t want members of your family to hate you because of me,” I countered.
He rolled his eyes. “They don’t hate me. Brandt and I talked. He’s going to be cool, I swear.”
When I widened my gaze pointedly, he sighed. “Okay, he’s not thrilled, but he’ll get over it. He’s my brother. At the end of the day, he loves me. Always.”
“Well, he doesn’t love me,” I groused. “And I have to say, it’s not awesome that he disapproved of us the way he did.”
Colton’s jaw ticked, but he didn’t refute my claim. “Yeah,” he muttered right before he lifted his hands. “You know, this is stupid.” He surged to his feet but didn’t really go anywhere. “It’s just fucking stupid. We might be young, but we’re still both adults. Why does everyone think they can tell us what we can and cannot do together?”
“I don’t know.” I moved toward him and grasped two handfuls of the front of his shirt. When I looked up into his eyes, he sighed and cupped my cheek in his hand.
“The only thing that matters is what we want. And I want you. So it comes down to what you want, baby doll.” He arched a single eyebrow. “Do you want to drop me like a dirty rag or not?”
“No,” I whispered, leaning forward to press my face to his collarbone. “Never.”
“Good.” He wrapped his hand around the back of my neck and held me against him. After resting his cheek against mine, he straightened and cleared his throat. “You know, I could afford both your and my college tuition.”
I jerked back to gape up at him, my mouth falling open. I’d had no idea he made that much from his Vines. But then I shook my head, getting past that and focusing on his suggestion. “Colton, don’t be ridiculous. You’re not paying for my college.”
“Why not? You’re giving up that money and more for me; it’s the least I can do.”
“Just…” I patted his chest and then touched his cheek, honored he even offered. “I’ll figure something out.”
“Yeah, I didn’t figure you’d accept.” He blew out a long breath. “I guess that means there’s just one thing for me to do.”
“What do you mean?” I looked up into his face, almost dreading the answer even as I asked for it. “What are you going to do, Colton?”
He shrugged. “I’m going to talk to your dad and convince him to approve of our relationship so you can keep going to college with his help.”
I stepped back. “No. What? No, that’s an awful idea.”
“No, it isn’t. Why is it a bad idea?” He looked kind of insulted by my insistence.
I pointed toward the door where my dad had just left. “You just tried to talk to him, and it only made things worse.”
“Hey.” He grasped my shoulders. “Will you trust me? I’m the king of bullshit, remember?”
“Except my father sees right through bullshit,” I growled.
“So do you, but I won you over, didn’t I?” Pressing a kiss to my forehead, he murmured, “I can win him over too.”