Page 67 of The Heavier The Chains…
Her light brown eyes searched my blue ones and I could tell the second she was going to call my bluff. Or, at least, what she thought was a bluff.
It wasn’t.
“So…if I marry you, I can…pay Edie’s college, pay off your mother’s house, put a down payment on a house for us, and put the rest of the money in a trust for our kids, and you won’t say a word?” she asked skeptically.
“As long as I pay for my own college, I make the house payments, and pay all the bills,” I amended.
She popped up and stink-eyed me. “And what about the money I make from working? What happens to that if you’re paying all the bills?”
I probably shouldn’t have chuckled at her women’s lib outrage, but it was cute. “I figure since all my money will be tied in the house, bills, and cars, you’ll need to finance whatever your children are going to get into as they come into existence.”
She slapped at my chest. “You’re a dick, Talon,” she mumbled, but there was no heat behind it. She knew I had been teasing her.
“I know, baby,” I agreed. “I know.”
“How would this work?” she asked, curious and weakening.
“How the hell would I know?” I joked. “I’ve never been married before.”
Kenzlee sat up. “You are an asshole, Talon Draven,” she huffed, and moved to scurry off the bed.
I reached for her and wrestled her until she was positioned underneath me. “Awe, baby, don’t be mad,” I laughed, aggravating the shit out of her.
“I’m dumping you,” she declared. “I am so dumping your sorry ass and…and…”
I nuzzled my nose against her cheek. “No, you’re not, White,” I denied. “You’re going to agree to marry me after I meet your uncle and do this right. We’ll be engaged until we graduate, and then we’ll get married before we head off to college.”
“What if we go to diff-”
I reared back to look down at her. “That’s not going to happen,” I stated. “We go to the same school. That’s my only condition in all of this, White.”
She arched a brow. “The only condition?”
I grimaced a bit and gave her that. “Okay, anadditionalcondition,” I conceded.
Kenzlee reached up and started playing with the wild strands of my hair. She was studying my features as if realizing that mine was the face that she was going to be looking into for the rest of her life. And, being only teenagers, that was a long fucking time.
“This is crazy,” she whispered. “We hardly know each other, Talon. We…it hasn’t even been amonth, and we’re here talking about marriage and…it’scrazy.”
I nodded, because the girl was right. This shit was crazy. We were only eighteen and had an entire world of opportunities to experience in the years to come. Teenage relationships very rarely lasted through the adult years because real life was a constant slap in the face as you grow up and tackle new obstacles; everyone knew this.
But looking down at this beautiful girl, I also recognized that, while I was only eighteen, I’ve lived for eighteen years. And in all those years, I’ve never felt anything close to what I felt when she bumped into me that day in the hallway.
I’ve been with girls, and I’ve met tons of people around the fight scenes, but no one has ever pulled at me the way Kenzlee has and does. And as much as I didn’t like thinking about it, she had a boyfriend for two years who she gave her virginity to, and she’s admitted that she’s felt more for me in this one month than she ever did for him in all the years they were together. That meant something, and I wasn’t going to ignore the signs just because we were young; too young, by society’s standards.
“Do you love me?” I asked, point blank. “And I don’t mean love me like you have love for me. Do you love me? Are you in love with me the way I’m in love with you?”
She didn’t hesitate. “Yes,” she answered, sure and confident.
“Then say you’ll marry me, White,” I demanded. For some reason, this teasing, yet serious conversation has lost all its mirth. I was really asking her to marry me because I really needed her to marry me.
Her light eyes and beautiful face lit up like she’s finally found the peace she was seeking. “Okay, Talon,” she whispered. “I’ll marry you.”
I let out the deep breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. My dick started to harden, and as soon as it was hard enough, I slid back inside Kenzlee’s body. She was giving me everything I could ever want, and it was because she truly loved me more than she loved diamonds or that goddamn money.
My movements were slow and measured. “I’m going to take care of you, Kenzlee,” I promised. “No matter what career you choose, no matter what career I choose, no matter what happens, I willalwaystake care of you.”
Her eyes watered, but she was exactly where I needed her to be in her heart and mind. “Snow White wouldn’t expect anything less from her Prince Charming,” she replied making me fall in love with her all over again.
