“THIS IS SUCH bullshit. We can’t let them get away with this.” Serena was on a roll as she wore a hole in my rug from her inability to sit down. I couldn’t blame her for skipping the rest of her school day to be here, not when she was so riled up on my behalf. Hell, I’d had Sasha cancel everything on my calendar, wanting to be home whenever Preston finished with his parents. That was a conversation I knew wouldn’t go well, and I couldn’t imagine what state he’d be in when he arrived.
Serena tapped her phone in her hand, and I could almost see the wheels turning. “How about this. You’re the president. You fire them.”
“I think it’s a couple hours too late for that.”
“Then we reach out to your supporters and force them to reinstate you.”
“Bug?” I patted the couch cushion beside me. “Come sit.”
“I can’t. I’m pissed off.” She stopped suddenly. “How are you not more upset?”
I sighed and stretched my arm out along the back of the couch. It wasn’t even noon and it already felt like the longest day ever. “I’m choosing to look at it like they’re doing me a favor.”
“A favor? What are you talking about? They’re trying to humiliate you.”
“Aren’t you the one who told me I work too much?”
“Well…yeah—”
“Looks like I’ll have more time to spend outside of work if I’m not constantly at the Elysium or having to show up for meetings at Astor.”
“But…” She searched my eyes, trying to suss out the truth. “You’re okay with this?”
I shrugged. “I don’t really have a choice. Let someone else deal with all the headaches for once.”
“I don’t know how you’re taking this so much better than me. Aren’t you upset they’re trying to ruin your reputation?”
“Really? You think you’re the only one who lives for the drama?” When her jaw dropped, I smirked. “Where do you think you get it from? Now stop worrying about me, please.”
“This feels so backward,” she said, and was coming to sit by me when the doorbell rang. “I’ll get that.”
She disappeared for a minute, and when she came back, Preston was following behind her. When he stepped into the sitting room, all of the anxiety I’d been bottling up immediately rose to the surface, but when his eyes locked on mine and that beautiful smile appeared, all of the worry I’d been feeling quickly dissipated.
He’d come to me. I wasn’t sure why I was so surprised—I’d told him he could. But some small part of me had wondered if his parents would sway him.
“Preston.” I got to my feet, and as I moved over to where he and Serena stood, her eyes softened.
“I’m going to go,” Serena said. I opened my mouth to protest, but she held up a hand. “You two have a lot to talk about.” She leaned in and pressed a kiss first to Preston’s cheek and then mine. “I’m so happy for the both of you. Screw everyone else.”
Preston grinned as I shook my head. “That’s the spirit,” I said.
“Exactly. They’re just jealous.” She walked out of the sitting room, waving her goodbyes.
As Preston and I were left alone, I took his face in my hands and did what I’d wanted to do since I’d last seen him—I kissed him.
He melted into me, his hands on my chest and his body swaying closer, and everything in the world righted itself. It was sweet, poignant, and everything I never knew I’d needed.
I trailed my fingers down his cheek. “You survived.”
Preston chuckled and nodded. “Barely. Probably helps that I didn’t stick around long enough for my life to really be in jeopardy.”
“Well, I’m not going to complain about that.” I led him over to the couch, then sat down and wrapped my arm around him. “I kind of like you this way.”
Preston snuggled into my side, and I kissed him gently on the head.
“Was it terrible?” I asked.
“It wasn’t great.” He let out a sigh and kicked his legs up on the couch. “Let’s just say they weren’t overly pleased with me. But they’ll get over it eventually, I think. It was more about image than anything else. My father wanting to portray the perfect family. His son with a perfect wife and babies and—”
“Not a son who is dating his ex’s dad?”
Preston looked up at me, his lips twitching. “Yeah, well, her dad’s hot. Not my fault.”
“No? You just had to show up here stripping off all your clothes and making me want you?”
“I mean…you’re welcome.”
This right here made everything worth it. Without dealing with so many other responsibilities, I could just sit here and enjoy the man I’d chosen to be with. This was what our nights and weekends could look like. Wrapped up in each other.
“What are you looking forward to first?” I said, reaching down to link our fingers.
“Being able to hold your hand in public will be nice.” He brought our hands up to kiss my knuckles. “Kissing you any time I want. Just sitting here being with you. The list is endless.”
Because I could, I leaned down and brushed my lips over his. I wanted all those things too.
“What about you?” Preston said, turning my question back on me. “What are you looking forward to most?”
“Just knowing you’re mine.”
He smiled, almost shyly, though the man I’d gotten to know was anything but the shy guy I’d once thought him as.
He studied our joined hands. “Archer?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m sorry this all blew up. I know it’s my fault and I put you in a bad position.”
“You did no such thing.”
“Yes, I did. My father was right about one thing. Keeping secrets only sets off a chain reaction, and that’s affected you and caused this shitstorm.”
“Let’s not give your father too much credit here. Do you think I hadn’t thought through all the possible outcomes when I decided I wanted you?”
Preston didn’t say anything, just bit down into his lip.
I lifted his chin, forcing him to look at me. “I didn’t care. About any of it. I knew something like this would probably happen, and I did it anyway. Because you’re worth it. Because I love you.”
Preston’s eyes welled, the love I’d just spoken of swirling in them, reflecting back at me. “I love you too. So much.” He turned on the couch and scooted up on his knees beside me, taking my face in his hands. “I can’t believe it’s actually real. It just… It just feels too perfect.”
“Perfect?” I chuckled. “I was fired twice today. So, yeah, I’m pretty sure it’s real.”
He leaned into the back of the couch, moving his hand down to rest it over my heart. “So Archer Carrington is really mine?”
I covered the top of his hand and squeezed. “For as long as you want him.”
Preston’s lips crooked, and the mischievous grin had me narrowing my eyes.
“What?” I said.
“What if I want you forever?”
“Then that sounds like a pretty good plan to me.” I grabbed hold of him and leaned back into the arm of the couch, drawing him over the top of me. As he nestled between my legs, I wrapped my arms around him, loving the feel of him there.
“That’s the one thing I’m absolutely certain about,” he said.
“Meaning?”
Preston rested his chin on my chest, his eyes turning serious as they found mine. “Meaning I have no idea what I want to do in my life. Besides you, that is.”
I laughed and ran a hand down to his ass, swatting him there. “Be serious.”
“Oh, I’m always serious about that.”
“Preston…”
“I just mean… Now that I’ve told my parents I don’t want to pursue politics, what the hell do I want?”
It was a legitimate question. His whole life, Preston had been tailored for a world where he’d follow in his father’s footsteps. But now he had the opportunity to do anything he wanted. The world was his proverbial oyster, and sometimes that was more stressful—trying to figure out who you were outside of the mold someone else had created for you.
“I don’t know.” I leaned down and pressed a kiss to his nose. “Only you can answer that. But you know what?”
“What?”
“You don’t have to figure it all out tonight. Enjoy the newfound freedom you just granted yourself. You have plenty of time to figure all that out later.”
“Ah, you’re right. I mean, I’m only twenty-one and all…”
“Oh God.” I groaned. “You really don’t have to remind me. You sure you’re okay being with an old man?”
“I told you, I don’t see any old men here.”
“You might if I break a hip and you have to carry me up those stairs.”
“Nah, we’d just get one of those chairs that hauls you up. Or we could call Raul. He’s got arms the size of tree trunks. He could carry you.”
I busted out laughing. “Really? You’d pass me off to that guy?”
“Only if I can still be an active participant.”
My dick stirred, and Preston arched a brow.
“I felt that.”
“Maybe I wanted you to.”
He sat up and moved to straddle my lap, wiggling his ass over my cock to tease me. “Well, it looks like we’ve only got one more hurdle to face.”
“And what’s that?”
His grin could only be described as cheeky. “I’ve got to officially introduce you to my friends.”
“I’m pretty sure they already know who I am.”
“They do as Mr. Carrington. But not as Archer. Not as mine.”
“Yours, huh? I could get used to that.”
“You better. I’m not going anywhere.” Preston leaned down and sealed our promise with a kiss. His soft lips parted above mine, his tongue teasing and tangling. He felt exquisite in my arms, as though he’d been made to be there—and if I had my way, I’d never let him go.
This was the start of our forever. I could feel it. A new beginning, one of the many changes I was about to make in my life. Preston had restarted my heart, reminding me that I wanted more from life than going through the motions.
It was time to start living. Time to start enjoying everything I’d worked so hard to achieve.
And I’d be doing it all with my pretty young thing right by my side.
