Better (Too Good series) (7 page)

“We’ll do the best we can,” he told her, and she sighed.

“Is it ready to go?”

“Yep,” he replied.

“So I can click ‘Send’ now?”

“You have to e-sign it first,” Mark pointed out.

“How do I do that?”

“Just type your name.”

“That’s a signature?”

“Yep.” He pushed her hair over her left shoulder and leaned in to kiss the back of her neck. He felt the tiny goose bumps break out on her skin and licked them. She squirmed.

“Stop. I’m working.”

“Typing your name is work?” he asked, lips pressed against her neck. So soft. So salty sweet. He sucked her neck just to feel her squirm on him. Her little bottom made him rock hard in an instant.

“Mark . . .”

“Hmm?”

“I have to go to work in thirty minutes.”

“Plenty of time.”

“We haven’t talked about bills like water and electricity,” Cadence said.

“We’ll talk about them later,” Mark replied.

Cadence stood up and turned around on Mark’s lap, straddling him. She plopped her arms around his neck.

“But it’s a big deal, Mark.”

He gazed into her icy blue eyes and realized he’d pay for all of it. Even if he had to work four jobs and deny himself the little pleasures of records and books. He’d do all that to give to her. To make her comfortable. To want for nothing.

“You win,” he said thoughtfully, and she furrowed her brows.

“So we’re gonna sort out the bills?”

He shook his head. “No. Not that. I just meant you win. Generally speaking. You’re the winner.”

“Why’s that?” she asked.

“Because I’ll do anything for you, see? So that makes you the winner.”

Cadence laughed and hugged Mark close.

“You always say these dorky things to me,” she mumbled into his neck.

“Dorky? I thought I said all the right things.”

“You do,” Cadence agreed. “But they’re dorky, too.”

“I’ll take both,” Mark replied. “Now get in that bedroom and take off those panties.”

Cadence hopped up from his lap and walked to the hallway.

“You take them off,” she said, and sprinted to the bedroom.

“Even better.”

***

“You start school in three weeks,” Mark said as he watched Cadence walk through the door.

She tossed her purse on the club chair and walked to the kitchen.

“My loan application was approved?” she asked, grabbing a glass from the cabinet. She filled it with ice and water, then walked back to the living room.

“I don’t know,” Mark replied.

Cadence screwed up her face in thought. “I don’t get it. If my loan application hasn’t been approved, then I’m not starting school in three weeks.”

Mark grinned. “Yeah. You are.”

Cadence sank down on the couch and tipped the glass to her lips. She chugged most of the water before replying.

“I can’t go to school, Mark, if I don’t have money.” She said it with an edgy patience.

Mark sat on the coffee table across from her.

“You don’t need a loan, Cadence. You’re not going into debt to pay for school.”

Cadence shook her head. “I don’t understand.”

“I wanna do this for you,” he said softly.

Her eyes went wide. “Do what?”

“Pay for it.”

Cadence froze. He watched her face carefully. First confusion. Then clarity. Next anger. And then helplessness.

“That’s your school money, Mark. No,” she said.

“It’s
your
school money. I can work and go to school. I planned on it anyway. So what that I can’t take as many classes a semester as I’d hoped? I don’t care. I wanna do this for you. You’re going to college, Cadence, and you’re not coming out with a 25,000 dollar tab when it’s all said and done.”

“You already bought me a car!” Cadence cried.

“Okay.”

“And you pay for just about everything!”

“No big deal.”

“It is to me! I want to contribute. I want to pay my own way,” Cadence said.

“You do contribute,” Mark countered. “I mean, you could pick up your clothes more, but whatever.”

That worked slightly to ease the growing tension in t
he room. He watched the corner of her mouth turn up.

“Please let me do this,
” he said.

“You just f
eel sorry for me. You’re making a rash decision because you feel sorry for me.”

“No, I’m not. I’ve been thinking about this
for days, Cadence. I talked with—”

“You saved that money for you!” Cadence interrupted.

Mark paused before replying.

“No. I saved it for you. I just didn’t know it then.”

Cadence blinked, then placed her glass on the table. She leaned back against the couch cushions and considered her boyfriend. He smiled at her, and she nodded.

“You say all the right things
.”

He chuckled.

“And I love it, and it’s frustrating.”

He took her hand.

“How can you afford this?” Cadence asked softly.

“Cadence, I’ve been saving my money for years.”

“So what? You still have bills. Rent. What about your undergrad loans?”

He grinned patiently. “I got a scholarship.”

“All four years?”

“I finished in three.”

“Liar.”

“I swear! Worked my ass off, but I did.”

“And grad school?”

“Took it slow. Paid what I could when I could.”

She pursed her lips.

“I’m debt-free. I’ve saved my money. You’ve gotta trust me on this. I’m not rolling in the dough, but I can afford to send you to school. Just don’t get the meal plan, okay? That’ll put me in the hole.”

She laughed.

“Trust me,” he whispered.

“You don’t have to take care of me like this,” she said.

“Yes I do.
That’s my job as a man.”

“Is it?”

“Well, you don’t have to accept it if you don’t want to. I know you’re all independent and everything.”

Cadence snorted. “I’m far from independent, and you know it.”

Mark pursed his lips. “But that’s the beauty of this arrangement. You’re not supposed to be. Just like I’m not supposed to be entirely independent either. If we both were, we’d have no need for each other.”

Cadence considered this.

“But you do way more than me.”

“That’s not true,” Mark replied. “
Your problem is that you wanna make it all about money. Okay then. Yeah. I make more money than you. That means I take on more financial responsibility. And I’m fine with that.”

Cadence tried to interrupt.

“Just listen,” Mark cut in. “You pull your weight in other ways, Cadence. You contribute a lot.”

Cadence shrugged.

“But you know what?” he asked.

“Hmm?”

“I wouldn’t give a shit if you did nothing but lay around all day because loving you is not about percentages: I give 50 percent. You give 50 percent. That’s bullshit. My job is to love you and give to you as much as I can each and every day. Try to make it to one hundred. On my own.”

“You usually do,” Cadence said, smiling.

“Then I must be doing something right.” He winked at her.

“But I can’t let you give me your school money,” Cadence replied.

“Why? It’s mine to give to whomever I want. And I think you’re being pretty damn selfish by not accepting it.”

“But you’ll own me!”
Fuck
, Cadence thought.

“You think that’s what this is about? Having an upper hand or holding something over your head?” Mark star
ed at her in disbelief. “Do you even understand the definition of a gift?”

“No.” Cadence folded her arms over her chest defensively.
How could she? Everything given to her by her parents was conditional. Except her laptop.

Mark walked to the couch and squatted beside her.

“It’s given freely. No strings. No expectations. No payback.”

“Why?” she whispered.

“Because I love you. Madly. You’ve infiltrated my brain. Driven me crazy.” He watched her carefully. A tiny grin that played at her lips turned into a full-on smile. “You’ll have to commit me one day, you know.”

“I won’t. I’ll take care of you,” she said, reaching her hands out to him.
She pulled his head into her lap and played with his hair.

“You’re accepting this gift from me,” he said.

She nodded.

“Cadence?”

“I’m nodding.”

“And I will never expect anything from you for it.
” He paused. “Well, maybe one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“Just love me. That’s all I want you to do,” he said.

“But I’
m already doing that.”

“Then you’re ahead of the game,” he joked.

She lifted his face, made him look her in the eyes.

“Thank you.”

Cadence scanned the lobby for her freshmen orientation group. Dozens of students loitered about, chatting and laughing. They all seemed to have friends already. How? How did they make friends so quickly if they were new?

Her face fell. The panic set in instantly, and she considered turning on her heel and darting out of the building. Everything was foreign and huge and scary all of a sudden. She didn’t think she had the guts to go to college.

“You look a little freaked out,” someone said beside her.

Her face shot up and saw him grin at her. He pulled on the straps of his book bag to tighten them
, then adjusted the baseball cap on his head.

“I am,” Cadence replied. No point in lying about it. She knew her face was drained of color.

“It’s no big deal,” the boy said. He waved his hand around. “See? Just a building. Those people over there? Just people. Whatever, right?”

Cadence cracked a smile. “I’m still scared.”

The boy took off his hat. “Okay. I never do this for anyone.” He looked at Cadence and then adjusted the strap on the back of his cap. He placed it on her head.

She
looked at him confused.

“That hat right there is magic, okay? It’s my lucky
cap. I’ve had it for ten years.”

“Oh, gross!” Cadence
said playfully.

The boy laughed. “It’s been washed a couple of times in those ten years.”

Cadence shrugged.

“The point is that it’s lucky. Very lucky. And since you’re so freaked out about our orientation today, I’m gonna let you wear it. It’ll give you confidence.”

Cadence held up the cap and considered it. It was a dingy white with a faded, embroidered “A” on the front.

“How do I know you don’t have lice?”

“You don’t.”

“Sick,” she said, and scratched her head.

The boy laughed. “I don’t have lice.”

Cadence nodded and held out his baseball cap. “But don’t you want to be confident today?”

He grinned. “I thought I was already putting that out there.”

“Oh jeez. You’re one of those,” she muttered.

He chuckled. “No, seriously. At least give me some credit for talking to you first.” He looked at her expectantly.

She sported a full smile now. “But you’re just naturally sociable. I can tell.”

“Hmm. I guess you’re right,” he admitted.

“You’d talk to a wall. So it doesn’t count.”

“God, I hope not. That’s freakin’ weird,” he said, and she giggled. “Wanna hang out today?”

She thought for a moment, then placed the cap on her head. “Sure.
I’m Cadence.”

“I’m Michae
l.” He lightly smacked the bill of the baseball cap, and she swatted his arm. He patted her head, and she rolled her eyes.

“You’re not gonna do that,” she demanded.

“I can’t help it. You’re so little. Lemme pat your head one more time.”

“Don’t be condescending!” she cried, jumping back to avoid his hand.

“Sorry, Cay.”

“Cay? My name is Cadence.”

Michael smirked. “Yeah . . . no. You’re Cay.”

“Only people close to me can call me Cay.”

He studied her face. “All right then, Cay.”

Cadence tensed.
He flashed her a toothy smile, and she relaxed. She wanted to tell him she had a boyfriend, then thought that might be too presumptuous.

“You have a boyfriend?” Michael asked.

“Whoa.”

“Calm down. I don’t even know if I’m interested in you yet,” Michael replied. He watched her shuffle uneasily from foot to foot. “So?”

“Yes, I do,” she answered.

“That’s it. I want my hat back,” Michael said, reaching for his cap.

Cadence said nothing as he ripped it off her head. He paused and smiled at her again.

“I’m kidding!” He shoved it back on her head. “God, you’re too easy.”

“What do you mean?”

Michael shook his head—a patronizing gestu
re that irked her.

“Don’t—”

“Oh, just take it easy,” Michael interrupted in an equally patronizing tone. “See that chick over there?” He pointed to a brunette in a group of four girls.

Cadence nodded.

“She lives on my hall. And she’s gorgeous. And I’m totally into her.”

“Makes sense,” Cadence replied. “The gorgeous ones usually win out.” She adjusted the hat.

Michael looked at her thoughtfully. “Yeah. Which is why you’re already taken.”

Cadence blushed with flattery. And then she thought it was the most inappropriate conversation she could be having with someone of the opposite sex. She couldn’t hang out with Michael today. Or ever.

“Uh . . . maybe you oughta go over there and talk to her,” Cadence suggested. “I mean, maybe you oughta hang out with her today.”

Michael eyed her suspiciously. “You’re trying to get rid of me, aren’t you?”

“No! Not at all. It’s just—” She decided to tell the truth. “—the flirting.”

Michael burst out laughing. “I flirt with everyone.”

“Oh.”

He bent down, hands on his knees, and looked her in the face.

“I won’t flirt with you anymore if it makes you uncomfortable. I know you have a boyfriend. I respect that. But I still think you’re cute, and I’d like us to be friends.”

The side of Cadence’s mouth turned up.

“So you wanna be friends because you think I’m cute?”

“Hold up. That’s called a logical fallacy, my dear. You being cute is not the reason I wanna be friends. You were making a false deduction based on two seemingly related things I said that are
n’t relatable at all, actually.”

“Oh, and he’
s a nerd, too,” Cadence replied, smiling.

Michael laughed. “You got that right. And you’ll be nerding it up with me big time during study sessions.”

“We’re having study sessions together? When did we plan that?”

Michael sighed patiently. “That’s what you do when you’re friends with someone. You study with them.”

“Ohhh, I see.” Cadence giggled, then walked with Michael to a large group of students who were congregated around an orientation leader. College had officially begun, she thought, and she didn’t know what to make of her first day.

“I’ll steal a kiss from you eventually,” Michael whispered in her ear.

She tensed, then shot him a warning glance.

“Don’t do that. Don’t ruin it.” She was dead serious, and he sensed it, so he stopped flirting. If he really didn’t care about knowing her at all, he would have continued teasing her. But he did w
ant to know her. And he couldn’t explain it. So he decided to keep up the false pretense of liking the brunette. He’d never seen her before in his life. But he’d have Cadence believe it if it meant he could be her friend.

***

“I made a friend today,” Cadence said. She plopped her bag on the dining room table and walked over to Mark. He turned his face to her and let her peck his cheek. “It’s a guy. Is that wrong?”

Mark thought for a moment. “Are y
ou asking me as your boyfriend or as one really chill hipster?”

“Both.”

“All right then. I don’t trust guys. Because I am one.”

Cadence rolled her eyes. “He likes this other girl. He pointed her out at orientation today.”

“Doesn’t know her.”

“Huh?”

“He never saw that chick before in his life,” Mark explained.

Cadence shook her head. “You’re crazy. AND jealous.”

“Am I? I don’t think I’m giving off a jealous vibe at all. I’m just telling you what I know.”

“Fine. Continue.”

Mark looked up from his paperwork.

“Did he approach you?”

“Yes.”

“Did he flirt with you?”

“Well, sort of.”

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Mark muttered. “Did he give you something?”

Cadence tensed. Suddenly she felt foolish.

“He let me borrow his lucky hat,” she said softly.

Mark tried to hide the grin. “Lucky hat?”

“He saw how nervous I was,” Cadence explained. “He was just trying to make me feel better.”

“I know.”

“He was nice, at least.”

“And I appreciate that. But I want you to understand his intention.”

“And what’s that
?” she huffed.

“Ass.”

“Mark!”

“How old is he? Eighteen? Nineteen?”

“Probably something like that.”

“I rest my case.”

“So you don’t want me to be friends with him?” Cadence asked. “He’s in two of my classes.”

“I didn’t say that at all. Go be friends with him. Just be careful,” Mark replied.

“Maybe I shouldn’t be friends with him,” Cadence said.

“Sweet Chee
ks, you can be friends with whoever you want. Okay? I’m just looking out for you.”

Cadence grinned. “I want you to be jealous,” she whispered.

“I know you do. And I will be if he lays a hand on you. But so far, you’ve painted him to be really honorable,” Mark said.

Cadence nodded. That wasn’t the complete truth. She didn’t tell Mark that Michael said he planned to steal a kiss from her some day. She thought she ought to, but she wasn’t ready to have no friends at scho
ol quite yet.

“When do you start class?” she asked. She wanted to change the subject.

Mark avoided her gaze. “Um, I’m actually starting next semester.”

She eyed him curiously. “Why?”

He sighed heavily. “I just can’t afford it right now.”

“I knew it. I knew this would happen.”

“You knew what would happen?” Mark asked.

“You gave me money you shouldn’t have, and now you can’t afford your own dream. It was
your
money!” Cadence cried.

“My money is your money.”

“Ugh! I’m dropping out.”

Mark looked at her evenly. “You’re going.”

“No. I’m getting the money back and giving it to you. You worked hard for it. You had to teach high school for Christ’s sake!” She jumped in her seat and slapped her hand over her mouth.

Mark shook his head, confused.

“I can’t believe I said that,” she mumbled into her palm. “Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God.”

“Said what?”

“I have to go pray.” She hopped up from her chair, and Mark followed her into the bedroom.

“Go away,” she said.

“Cadence, I’ll let you pray in a minute.” He wanted so badly to roll his eyes. “But first, we need to discuss this. Because you’re not getting any money back. You’re going to college. Period.”

“I accepted it because you made me believe you could still afford to go!”

“I thought I could,” he said, observing her bounce from foot to foot. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Oh my God! Are we done here? I need to pray!”

He cracked a smile then folded his hands. “‘Dear God, please forgive Cadence for taking your name in vain. She didn’t mean it, and she loves you very much. Amen.’ Now can we get back to it?”

“You are so disrespectful,” Cadence said. She wasn’t ugly about it. She actually thought it was funny, but she knew she couldn’t laugh. It would encourage him.

“I was praying!” Mark argued.

“You were being a smartass,” Cadence pointed out.

“You’re right. And I’m sorry. But you can’t just dump the whole ‘I’m not going to college’ thing on me and then run to the bedroom to pray. Kind of not fair.”

“What am I gonna do??”

“About what?”

“I feel like a leech!
I’m sucking the life out of you! You pay for everything. You’re sacrificing your schooling. You—”