Page 98 of Through The Woods

The corner of his mouth turned up in a smile and I couldn’t help myself; I leaned forward and pressed my lips to it.

It widened even further. “You told me that after your parents died, you tried to OD and when that didn’t work, you snorted yourself into oblivion. I figured your parents had to have known that you might relapse. They would’ve wanted to ensure that you didn’t blow through the money, right?”

My mouth dropped open. “Oh my god—they put it in a trust!”

He nodded. “Bingo. Your parents left you everything, but they also knew you were an addict. So, they had everything put into a trust—real estate, bank accounts, stocks, and bonds.”

I shook my head. “I don’t understand how you figured it out, when Blade and Clint couldn’t.”

Charm laughed and pulled me into a hug. “Because they were fuckin’ idiots, like I said. They were so damn convinced that your parents would’ve left you everything, free and clear, that they never looked anywhere else. Me? I ain’t ever had any kids, but my sister was an addict and I know that I’d never leave her money without some qualifiers in place.”

I was still crushed up against his chest, so my words were muffled. “The trust has stipulations that must be met, I’m guessing?”

He pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and read from it. “Beneficiary must be a college graduate. Funds have been set aside for tuition and living costs.”

They’d known I was strung out, yet they had faith that I would come back from it. The only way I was ever going to graduate was if I sobered up. I’d had the money the entire time—and it wouldn’t have mattered who they killed, Blade and Clint would’ve never gotten a dime of it.

“It still doesn’t matter—I never finished college.”

Charm moved me away and stood up to pace. “Yeah, that’s why I wanted to talk to you. I told myself that I’d make all the money you’d ever need—that there was no point in telling you about the inheritance. I can’t do it though. You gotta go back and finish school. Live your dream and make your parents proud.”

He trailed off, leaving the birds to sing their early morning songs in peace. I wasn’t entirely familiar with normal relationships, but I was fairly certain that guys didn’t propose right before a break up, did they?

I hugged my knees to my chest to stop them from shaking. “So, you want me to leave?”

Charm looked out over the landscape and ran his hands through his hair in frustration. “Fuck no. I want you to stay here—but it’s not about me. I may be an asshole, but I couldn’t live with myself if I kept you from fulfilling their dying wish.”

Tears fell from my eyes onto the fleece blanket. Each drop connecting with the last until the tops of my knees were damp. “You asked me to marry you…”

His jaw tightened as he nodded, still looking away from me. “Yeah, honey, but I can’t force you to stay here. This isn’t a life for you. You deserve to finish school and then do whatever you want with your millions. See the world—”

His voice cut off suddenly as he continued to look beyond the wilderness and to a life that didn’t include me in it.

I slid off the chair and wrapped my arms around him, resting my face against his back. “That sounds nice,” His body tensed beneath me. “But I want to be with my family. You’re my family, Kane. My home is here with you and I wouldn’t give that up for all the money in the world.”

His hands dropped down to cover mine. “You wanna stay here? What about the trust fund?”

I smiled to myself. “I’ll enroll in online classes—if I need to drive to Boulder a couple of days a week, I can. I think my biggest concern right now is making an honest man out of you though.”

His back vibrated beneath my cheek as he laughed. “You could have the entire world, but you wanna stay here and marry me?”

I stepped around him until we were face to face. “Meh, why waste hours sitting on a plane when I can see the world on the back of your bike?”

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