“I know that. Britt isn’t just any girl.”
“I know that, too. You guys have been friends since when… second grade?”
“First,” he corrected. I ran my tongue over my teeth.
“You have any questions?” I asked and felt his eyes on me before he looked away. “Spill… say what you wanna say.”
“You’re moving again,” he guessed, and I blinked.
“I am.” This had me turning to look at him. My nephew and I were now the same height. Time went by too fast. “How do you know that?”
“Because I’m not an idiot, and you’re not one, either,” he muttered, running his fingers through his brown hair.
“What does?—“
“Ember is in Moonlit Pines. She works at the hospital out there,” he pointed out like it was enough sense. “She’d not just any girl, and you’re not going to risk losing her because you’re an hour away. My guess is you’re going to ask her to marry you.”
“You’re right.” I crossed my arms over my chest. The ring had been burning a hole in my pocket the last couple of days. It looked like I was going to have two conversations with the kid. “I was thinking since I’m not going to be here, what if you keep renting this place out?”
“What?”
“And maybe, whatever college you decide to go to, I can invest in two properties for you to keep doing it while you’re in school. If you don’t think it’s too much.”
“You want… to hire me?”
“No, kid, I want to be a silent partner. What you did the last year here? The money you made… it was genius. Illegal as hell since you didn’t actually have permission and you were a minor for most of it but…” I shrugged. “I can’t deny you have an eye for the hustle. Plus, it’s thanks to you that I met the love of my life. So… if you think it’s something you can handle, or shit, if you have a different business idea, I want you to know you have my support.”
“You’re not just giving me money, right?” I knew better. Dane would never accept it.
“Nope. I’m serious. I think you’re a brilliant kid with a good instinct for business. I want to invest in you.”
“But you’re already paying for college.”
“Just say thank you,” I grumbled, looking away.
“Thank you.” He came closer and hugged me. Patting his back, I held him a little longer before we parted.
“Good talk?”
“Yeah.” He cleared his throat.
“Just be safe. No glove, no love. Not just because of babies but because you don’t want to catch anything that will make your dick fall off.”
“Jesus, Uncle Ash.”
“What? It’s true. Be smart. Make good choices.”
“I will. I wasn’t even… I wasn’t even thinking about having sex,” he shared, but I shot him a look that said, ‘Come on, really?’ “Fine. I’ve thought about it, but I wasn’t planning on doing it. Mom just caught us making out and freaked.”
“Sounds like a mom.” My lips twitched, and he chuckled.
“Yeah. We’re not even together.” He sighed, obviously unhappy about that.
“Say again?”
“She said we’re both going away to college and shouldn’t start something when we have so much more happening and we could both end up on different ends of the country.”
“Sounds like a smart girl. Even if it sucks.”
