“Yeah, it kind of sucks here, doesn’t it?”

“Nah. Anywhere with you is perfect. Except when I can’t fuck you against the wall.”

She giggled. I moved my arm and leaned over, licking her breast before sucking her now hardened nipple. “Okay, baby. I should go. You have to be up early and so do I.”

“I want you to stay,” she pouted.

“I want to stay, but I told my mom I’d be home tonight. Soon, we won’t have to say goodbye like this. You can spend the night at my place and I’ll drive you to school and to your clinicals in the morning.”

“I can’t wait.” She smiled as she kissed me goodbye.

Chapter 25

Amelia and I stayed up and talked on the phone until two in the morning. The next morning, before getting out of bed, I grabbed my phone from my nightstand and saw a text message from Hailey.

“Hi, Collin. I was wondering if we could talk. I told my parents last night and they are really upset and I need to talk to someone.”

I sighed. I didn’t know if it was such a good idea. The fact that she hurt me really bad wasn’t even a factor anymore. I was over it and everything happens for a reason. We did grow up together and had known each other since birth. So I guessed listening to her would be okay.

“I guess. I’ll text you later when I’m available.”

“Thanks. I appreciate it.”

I took a shower, got dressed, ran down the stairs, and followed the amazing scent of French toast and coffee.

“Good morning, Mom.” I smiled as I walked over and kissed her.

“Good morning, Dad,” I said as I poured a cup of coffee.

“You’re in a great mood today, son,” he said.

“That’s because things are good.”

I sat down at the table and my mom set down a plate of French toast in front of me.

“Have you spoken to Hailey?” my mom asked.

“Not really. Why?”

“Peyton and Henry are really worried about her. All she’s been doing lately is staying locked in her room. Did something happen in Italy?”

“Yeah, she got knocked up,” I blurted out as I took a bite of my French toast.

“WHAT!” my mom exclaimed.

“I’m surprised Aunt Peyton didn’t call you. She told them last night.”

“That’s a shame,” my dad said as he took a sip of his coffee.

“Peyton did call me last night, but I didn’t answer because your father and I were in the middle of—”

“STOP! Can’t you just say that you were busy? Do you always have to be so detailed?”

I looked at my dad as he sat there laughing. “It’s not funny, Dad. How would the both of you like it if I brought Amelia here and had wild sex and were so loud, you could hear us in any room of the house?”

“Collin, that’s not cool,” my mom said.

“EXACTLY! Now you get how I feel. I don’t like the thought of my parents having sex. That’s just...just...”

“Okay, son. We get it. We’ll try to be more careful with what we say,” my dad said.

“You’ve been saying that for years,” I said as I rolled my eyes.

“Well, I’m going to call Peyton. Now I feel horrible.” My mom kissed me on the head and walked upstairs.

My dad got up from his seat and put his plate in the dishwasher. “Ralph is driving me to the office today. Are you joining me or are you driving yourself?”

“I’m driving myself.”

“Okay. I’ll see you at the office,” my dad said.

“Have fun with Ralphie.” I laughed.

My dad stopped and turned around. “He is a bit strange.”

I laughed as I got up from my chair and grabbed my keys from the kitchen counter.

As I pulled into the parking garage of Black Enterprises, my phone rang. I pulled it from my pocket and it was my girl calling.

“Good morning, baby.”

“Good morning. How was your breakfast?”

“It was great! I wish you were there.”

“My clinicals were cancelled for today, so my friend Gina and I are going to the library for the day to study for our exams that are coming up. Plus, I have a research paper that’s due tomorrow.”

“Okay, babe. Have a good day and I’ll see you later. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

As soon as I got to my office, my secretary, Blythe stopped me. “Mr. Black, your father wants to see you in his office.”

“I just saw him thirty minutes ago.”

She shrugged and went back to typing on her computer. I stepped into my office, set my briefcase down, grabbed a cup of coffee, and headed across the hall to his office.

“Morning, Diana. How are you?”

“Good morning, Collin. I’m good. After you meet with your father, can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Sure. Let me go see what the old man wants.” I winked.

I opened the door. He had just hung up the phone. “Come in and have a seat.”

“What’s up?”

“Congratulations, son. We just landed the Firman deal.” He smiled.

“What the fuck! Are you serious?”

“Yes, I’m dead serious.”

“How did that happen? I basically told Mr. Firman to fuck off after all the shit he tried to pull with the deal.”

“I guess he liked you and your ‘I don’t give a shit if you don’t go with us’ attitude.”

I sat there as my dad smiled at me. I knew how proud he was and it made me happy. Black Enterprises was going to be my company one day and I was going to make sure it stayed strong and successful, just like my dad did when he took it over from my grandfather.

“You’re getting a huge bonus, son. I’m taking you to lunch later and we’re going to celebrate.” He smiled.

“Thanks, Dad.” I smiled as I shook his hand.

I walked out of his office and stopped at Diana’s desk. “I heard the good news. Congratulations.”

“Thanks. What did you want to talk about? Is Jacob okay?”

“He had his doctor appointment yesterday and I told him how much better Jacob was doing after you took him surfing. Unfortunately, it didn’t last once we got back to the city. The doctor told me that the ocean water would definitely help Jacob because of the high content of saline in it. You knew that, didn’t you?”

I pursed my lips and gave a small smile. “I was hoping it would work. I had been doing some research and I came across several articles that stated it’s the natural way of helping patients with cystic fibrosis. I hate to tell you this, Diana, but I think you need to move to the ocean.”