Page 62 of Colton

I sigh. “He did.”

“So why are you packing, exactly?”

“Because!” I groan, flopping on the bed. It’s been an exhausting half an hour, and I’m not sure how to handle the pressure I put on myself. “How am I supposed to come with nothing?”

“My best guess is that his plan is to spoil you, and take you shopping,” Grace shrugs, then shuts her phone off, turning her full attention to me. “Which I see no issue with.”

“Neither do I,” I sigh. “But I should at least pack underwear?”

“I highly doubt you’ll be needing any,” she grins. “But seriously, if the man wants to spoil you, let him. He wants you to choose what you like and buy it for you? You better point at an entire row of clothes. Oh, he thinks you need new jewelry? You better choose matching sets, several of them. He’s taking you to dinner? If you don’t order the most expensive wine and steak, I’ll seriously be disappointed in you.”

“Wouldn’t that make me seem like a gold digger?”

Grace waves me off. “That concept was created by poor men, who wanted to make everyone believe that women don’t deserve the nicest things. In reality, they were just pissy that they couldn’t afford them. Besides, I highly doubt Colton would ever say anything about you taking him up on his offers.”

She has a point. “Wouldn’t it be too soon for me to be that greedy?”

“Nah,” she snorts. “What you need to do, is show him who you are from the get go and he won’t get surprised later on. And, that man lives in an actual fucking castle, I don’t think that spending a couple of grand on you would be an issue for him. He seems like the providing type, anyway.”

I stop, holding my bag, and the thoughts start swirling in my head. Grace’s correct — he does seem like the type to provide, both mentally and financially, and I won’t even get started on the physical aspect.

No matter how confident I may’ve sounded to Grace, would I truly be able to just spend his money recklessly? A gift is one thing, but wasting his money on shopping spree’s and such nonsense, when I’d never waste my own, seems excessive.

“Don’t overthink it, Avalon,” Grace says, and her face is serious. “I’m not praying for your downfall, but if this relationship blows up, you’re on the losing end here. He’s going to make issues disappear for him, but you’ll be the one left to pick up the pieces. And if it goes public before you graduate? You’ll be kicked out of the academy, Ava. I’m just saying you should make good use of this.”

God, I hate when I’m forced to face reality. For now, all I can do is try to keep it hidden from the world. I want to enjoy this little secret while I can, because unfortunately, I’m not delusional enough to believe we won’t eventually get caught.

Until then, I may take Grace’s advice to heart. After all, she’s been through more shit than I have, she seems like she knows what she’s talking about.

Right now, I have no clue where all of this will lead me, or where I want it to go.

24

Avalon leaves the dormitory, and I’m waiting inside of the car. She glances around, making sure no one’s paying attention to her, but since it’s been raining, there’s barely anyone outside.

She notices the car and makes her way toward it quickly. She’s carrying a singular handbag and my chest swells when I realize she listened, and packed nothing. She’s someone who deserves to be spoiled rotten, and a part of this weekend getaway will be just that — spoiling her.

She opens the door and sits next to me, a wide smile takes over her face. She glances in toward the driver’s seat and something akin to relief floods her expression when she sees that there’s a divider, and the driver can’t see us. Not that Dan would comment on it, he knows better than to put his nose where it doesn’t belong.

“Hi,” she mumbles.

She’s fucking adorable, and I can’t help myself.

Immediately, I pull her into a kiss, feeling her melt against me. She drops her bag on the floor of the car, completely forgetting it. Her hands make their way into my hair, and her soft lips mold against mine perfectly.

It’s brief, before I pull back, simply looking at her. Avalon Evans is one of the prettiest women I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. Her wide eyes, her soft features that seem to have a hidden mischievous part of her, is the main reason she intrigues me this much.

Aside from what I’ve already found out about her, I’m certain there’s still so much to learn about her — something I plan to start doing now. It’s been a while since a person got me this interested, and I swear, I could spend hours to no end listening to her speak about herself, her childhood, anything she might want to talk about.

“You look gorgeous,” I murmur, pressing a soft kiss to the bridge of her nose.

Avalon blushes, and looks away for a moment. “Thank you.”

Dan turns the car on and drives off. The back windows are tinted and no one can see us from outside. Slowly, I reach to buckle her i, and although she doesn’t protest, I see slight annoyance on her face. With a chuckle, I lean back, only to feel her snuggle into my side.

“You did well on your exams,” I say, and she looks up at me. “I’m proud of you.”

It’s true — she managed to surprise me. She’s always been a good student, but she’s never done this well. She ranked fifth in her year, right below her friends. Coming in fifth with such a competitive crowd is an accomplishment worth celebrating.