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“Shut up,” I say through a giggle.
“It’s true.” He shrugs. “Besides, your apartment’s a good investment. But I’d like to get you something bigger—”
“Connor! Stop!”
He clamps his lips shut.
“So… if you have all this money, why are you living on campus, and why are you still driving around in this truck?”
“I’m not going to let money change me. I’m still me, and I don’t have a reason to live off campus.” Then he stands taller, his stance defensive. “Wait. What’s wrong with my truck?”
“Nothing,” I laugh out, “but why not buy a Mercedes or something? Isn’t that what ballers do?”
“Oh, she left me one of those, too… it’s in a garage somewhere, I think.”
“Jesus.”
“Hey, do you want it?”
“No, I don’t want it.”
He smiles. “I don’t know, Ava. I’m a simple man with simple needs.” Then his brow dips. “No one besides my dad knows about the money,” he says, shrugging. “I’d like to keep it that way.”
Nodding, I stay silent a moment, still trying to work through everything he’s telling me. “Wait. How did you know to buy the apartment and—”
“Because there’s more, Ava.”
“Oh, God. I need to sit down.”
“No, just listen, okay? And please try not to get mad at me.”
“Connor! You can’t say that and then not expect—”
“Sunshine Oak…”
“No…” My eyes fill with tears again. “You didn’t… did you?”
He chews the corner of his lip. “I know you said you were waiting on a place for your mom near Duke, and it took me a while until I found where she was waitlisted, but Riverside… I mean, it’s a good place, Ava, but your mom—she deserves the best—and Sunshine Oak—”
I cover my mouth, stop the sob from escaping, but he pulls down my hand, kisses me there.
“Your mom deserves Sunshine Oak, and it took a lot of convincing for them to do what I asked. They were willing to take the money, but trying to get you on board, and anonymously, that was tough, and that’s why it took almost a year for them to contact you.”
I struggle to breathe, to catch every tear that falls fast and free, and so he does it for me, his thumbs swiping my cheeks.
“And I don’t want you to think that your mom’s care is mutually exclusive with what happens with us. That’s there for as long as you both need or want, okay? I promise you that. Even when you get sick of my dumb ass, your mom will always be taken care of.”
My shoulders shake with my sob, and he holds me tighter to him, his lips finding my forehead. “Why would you do this?” I mumble into his chest.
He grasps my shoulders, pushing me back so he can look in my eyes. “I told you from the moment I met you, everything I did was for you. My end game was to take care of you and your mom, and that never changed.”
“Connor, why didn’t you tell me any of this before?”
“Because I didn’t want you to feel like you had to be with me for that reason. I wanted to make sure that you’d fall for me again.” He huffs out a breath, his palm cupping my jaw as he leans in, tastes the tears from my lips. “But, babe, I need you to promise something.”
“Anything.”
“Two things actually.”
