I walked around the cabin, watching the construction team work. I was shocked at how much had changed in just four days. It was looking more like a home rather than a vacation getaway.

I had just finished brewing coffee when Zach walked into the kitchen. “You look refreshed.” I smiled and poured him a cup. “Feel better now that you got some sleep?”

“Yeah.” He took the cup and smiled. He leaned down and kissed me. “Thank you.” He started looking around on the kitchen table. “I have something to ask you.”

“Okay, but give me a second.” I smiled as I took a sip of my coffee and took a minute to appreciate how sexy he looked in his sweats and no shirt. He had no idea how hot he made sweats with them hanging low on his hips and his boxers showing a little.

He nodded and kept looking through some papers on the table. “Aha!” he yelled when he found what he was looking for.

I walked over to him. “What is it?”

He handed it to me. “I want you to have a say in what happens to the cabin.” He pointed at a picture. “Do you like the porch the way it is now, or would a porch that wraps all the way around be better?”

I stared at him, blinking a few times.

He looked down at me. “What? Do I have something on my face?”

I shook my head and smiled. “Are you saying you see a future with me?”

Zach kept his eyes locked on mine. “Yes. I don’t see any future without you in it, Tiger.”

My heart was so happy it could burst. I crooked my finger at him. “Come here.”

He came closer to me and put his hands on my hips. “Yes?”

I stood on my tiptoes and kissed him. “I’ll be okay with any porch, Zach. What’s your budget?”

I never asked him about money; I knew he had it. I didn’t feel like it was my business. But a budget seemed like an important thing to ask regarding the remodeling. He went to the table again and picked up a notebook. He handed it to me.

“One line is for decorations, and the other is for construction. If we do the wrap-around porch, we can’t add an extra bathroom. Which do you prefer? One guest bathroom and a better private bathroom or a wraparound porch?”

“Two bathrooms for sure.” I put the notebook back on the table.

“Alright.” He pulled me close to him. “Do you want to help me with decorating? I don’t have a damn clue.”

I laughed and ran my hands over his bare chest. “I’m not good at decorating either, but surely we can figure it out together.”

He smiled. “Hopefully.” He looked at me. “So do you think you could talk your parents into letting you go on a mini-vacation with all of us during Thanksgiving break? Trevor will be going with us. I’m going to fly Sadie to meet us. He doesn’t know so don’t tell him. It’s a surprise.”

“Hell yeah! I’m sure I could since they know about Coach. They understand that I will want to spend as much time with him as I can.” Saying that surfaced so many emotions in Zach and me. I touched his face. “I’m sorry.” I closed my eyes and put my forehead to his chest.

He wrapped his arms tightly around me. He put his head on top of mine, and I felt a tear hit the top of my head. “We’re going to Orlando. Elliot wants to take Millie to Disneyworld and Universal Studios before he... before he dies.” His voice broke. “He promised he’d let me push him in a wheelchair.” He let out a shaky breath and cleared his throat. “I have a gift for you,” he said, changing the subject.

I wiped my eyes and followed him into the bedroom. He went to the dresser and opened the top drawer. He pulled out a small, flat box. He smiled as he handed it to me. I opened the box and saw a set of keys. I looked up at him in confusion. I already had a key to the cabin. I didn’t understand what the keys were for. I watched as he pulled something else out of his dresser. He handed me a picture of a beach house. I knew that beach so well. It looked like Gulfport.

I looked Zach. “Is this what I think it is?”

He gave me his crooked smile. “I don’t know. What do you think it is?”

“It looks like a house in Gulfport on my favorite beach.”

He nodded. “Then it’s what you think it is.”

I squealed. “Really?” I jumped a little.

He laughed. “Yes, really. And it’s all yours. I have more pictures of it so you can see what the inside looks like too.”

How much money did this guy have? Then it dawned on me. Tulane. I looked at him.

“Zach. Who paid for my schooling at Tulane? I know my parents didn’t. We don’t have that kind of money.”

He looked like a kid who got caught with his hand in a cookie jar. “Well...” He looked down at his shoes and rocked back and forth. “I don’t want you to be mad at me.”

“I’m not mad. I appreciate it, but is there something I should know? Are you a drug dealer or something?”

He looked at me and laughed. He sat down on the bed and patted the spot next to him. “Sit, and I’ll explain.”

I sat down and looked at him. “Is it bad?”

“No, it’s not bad. My father was a surgeon who made a lot of money. When he passed away, his life insurance and everything he had was split between Elliot and me. My mother was an inventor. She made a lot of medical equipment, and she made a lot of money from it. We still get money because of some of her inventions.” He looked at me. “The past five years I have been playing the stock market with some of the money. A small amount of it. I didn’t want to risk losing all of it. The small amount I started with has, on its own, made me a millionaire. I have no debt. Quinn’s is completely paid off, and on its own, it makes me enough money to live off of. I haven’t touched the other money until recently. It has grown a lot.” He shrugged. “Your beach house is paid for, but I will earn all that money back just by opening a Quinn’s in Gulfport. Elliot is the same way. Everything he owns is paid off. He lives off his teaching salary. Quinn and Brink help him pay the bills at the house since they live there too. So nothing bad or illegal.”

I sat there for a minute, processing it all. I chewed on the inside of my cheek as I looked at him. “So why do you think you aren’t anything, Zach? You’re obviously super smart and good with money. You run a successful debt-free business and have plans to expand. I don’t get it. It’s not like you are broke, on drugs, or doing nothing with your life. Why are you so hard on yourself?”

“None of it was mine, Hales. I bought an already successful business from friends of the family. I didn’t earn the money I have; I got it from my parents. I guess it’s hard to see myself as a success when none of it was originally mine. Plus, my past sometimes clouds my view of myself.”

“That makes sense.” I looked at the clock on his nightstand. “I need to run home and talk to my parents about Thanksgiving break and something else” I knew I was gonna have to be at Coach’s a lot, and I wanted to be there for Zach out in the open. Keeping this a secret just wasn’t going to work. Things were about to get stressful enough.

He kissed me. He looked around the room. “Be thinking about what to do in here. It’s the first room getting worked on after the outside is finished. We may need to get Trevor and Dane’s help. They’re both better at this stuff than I am.”

I nodded and stood. “Zach, I’m gonna tell my parents about us.”

His eyes widened in shock. “You are?”

“Yeah. That’s the something else I mentioned. With everything going on with Coach it’s just going to be a headache to keep this a secret. If I need to quit the team so you can keep coaching for Elliot, I will. I just want to be there for you and not have to sneak around to do it.”

He stood up quickly. “You’re not quitting. If it comes down to it, Quinn can coach; she knows a lot about baseball, or they can hire someone new. You’re not messing up your future plans because of me.” He kissed me. “But I’m glad you’re telling your parents. I don’t want to have to sneak around either. I want to be able to be with you and not be worried someone will find out.” He kissed my forehead. “Do you want me to come?”

“No. This is going to shock the hell out of them. They still think I’m with Dane.”

“If you need me, call me.”

“I will. I’m going to see if Dane will come with me. They will probably be calm if he’s around.” I got my phone out of my back pocket. “Do you need me to give you a ride back to Coach’s?”

“No, I’m going to stay here and get some things handled with the construction team. I’ll call Quinn to come get me later.” He picked up the picture and keys and handed them to me. He went back to the dresser drawer and pulled out some more pictures. “Here are the rest of the photos. It’s fully furnished, but if you don’t like something tell me, and I will have it changed.”

“Zach, I’m honestly not a picky girl. I don’t need to change a thing. I’m just shocked, and it means so much that you did this for me. Now, I’ll have to teach you to surf.”

“Sounds like a great idea.” He grinned, showing me his dimple for a split second. “You should get going, Tiger.”

I kissed him quickly then left the cabin. I called Dane on my way home.

“Hey, I need a favor. Is Trevor still there?” I asked when Dane answered.

“Yeah. Do you want to talk to him?”

“No, but I need a huge favor from you. Can you come over for dinner tonight?”

“Sure. But can I ask why?”

“Zach is going to need me now more than ever, Dane. I should tell my parents about our breakup and that I’m with Zach. It’s going to be too complicated to really be there for him if we are trying to sneak around. The less drama, the better. He needs to be able to focus on Elliot and not on sneaking around with me.”

“Well this will be an interesting dinner, but I got your back.”

“I’ll text you with the details. Thanks, Dane. I owe you.”

“It’s what best friends are for. See ya tonight.”

I hung up and turned up the radio. Interesting dinner? I could think of a thousand other words that could describe what the dinner would be like.

One big fuck-fest.