Between Kelli, Jason, me, and surprisingly Cole, we had her things shifted in record time, and she was settled in and dozing off on the couch before we left. Our time at Cole’s was up when Kelli’s apartment was ready for her to move back in. He exhaled loudly, and then planted a kiss on the top of my head. “Would you be supportive, or would you put Riley down in front of them?” It was a horrible question, but I needed to know the answer. “If you need some moral support when you go talk to your parents, I’ll come with you.” “This just gets better and better.” He pulled me in to him, wrapping both arms around me. He’ll tell you it’s the only way forward.”Ĭole chuckled beside me. “Please, for me, talk to your dad about Riley and a prenup. I trust Riley.”Ĭole flopped back down beside me. Besides, if you are serious about tying the knot, you need to get a prenup drawn up, so it stays your money.” “Are you crazy?” He was even closer now as he pressed his forehead to mine. “Because we’re getting married, so the money will become ours. “What? Why?” Cole was leaning up on his elbow now. I don’t know how he feels about it yet I guess I’ll have to wait to hear back before I speak to Marcus.” “And I’ve only just mentioned in a letter that I would like to buy into Songbirds. He wants to support us completely.”Ĭole snorted and mumbled under his breath, “Ridiculous.” “He doesn’t know how much I have, but he’s not happy about me having anything. What does Hotshot think of your trust and the restaurant?” “Thank you for being my sounding board, Cole.” But by the end of the conversation, I had a clear understanding of what I needed to do, and how it should be approached. Cole was very knowledgeable, and raised a few valid issues that I would need to sort out with Marcus.

We talked through the financial aspect, and through the legalities of it all. I then told him about my idea to buy into Songbirds, and open the restaurant as its own side business. I told him about the kitchen area at the bar that Marcus wanted to refurbish, but couldn’t afford. Okay, so now that we were talking about money, I wanted to ask his opinion on helping out Marcus. “It’s funny, I feel perfectly comfortable telling you because I know you don’t care about the money.” “Well, I guess I have now.” He squeezed me into him.

“Nah, I’ve never told anyone.” He paused. Maybe because I’d just found out that he had twice as much as me. It was the first time I had ever told anyone how much money was involved, but it seemed easy to tell Cole. “On my twenty-fifth birthday, a few years ago, I had the full amount released. I come from a long line of wealthy bastards,” he joked. I didn’t know a lot about Cole’s family, only that his grandfather was a famous composer and concert pianist. “So you have a trust fund, too?” I asked. It all made perfect sense that Cole would call the gym Pump It.

Songbird by Lisa Edward