Page 52 of A Constant Love
After our late night of unbridled passion, Sam and I slept in the next morning…only getting our wakeup call from a puppy licking our faces needing to go outside.
I rolled out of bed first hoping to let Sam get a little more sleep. It was only a few minutes though before she joined us outside on the beach.
“Well, Kansas, this is our last day here in paradise. What do you want to do?” I said while wrapping my arms around her.
She smiled. “You.”
“Isn’t that my line?” I laughed.
“Well, it’s true from my standpoint too,” she quipped.
“Well, it should be a given that you’re going to do that. But anything else?”
Her shoulders shrugged. “Honestly, I just kind of want to have a lazy day. The second we get back to Boston, our lives will become chaotic all over again, so today, let’s just enjoy the downtime.”
“You got it, beautiful.”
After a quick breakfast of some fruit and coffee, we grabbed a couple of lounge chairs and set them on the beach not too far from the water’s edge. Sam was in that damn tiny bikini again, so I tried not to focus too hard on her sexy body glistening in the sunlight. It didn’t matter though…staring at her or not, I was almost always at least halfway hard just being near this woman.
“Ty…” She began.
“Yes, Kansas?”
“Thank you again for bringing me here. It was sweet of you to go through all the trouble.”
I leaned my head back against the chair. “You’re welcome, but you should be thanking yourself.”
“Why’s that?” She chuckled.
“Because you paid for it.”
“Yeah…okay,” she laughed.
“I’m serious. Aside from the plane ride, you paid for this place.”
Removing her sunglasses, she looked over at me. “What are you talking about?”
I turned my head towards hers. “I used the money you’ve been paying me for rent to book this place for a few days. Apparently, you’re not going to stop paying to live there, but the house is paid for. So, I wanted to take the money and use it for something we could both enjoy.”
I wasn’t quite sure how she was going to react, and the look on her face showed she didn’t really know how to either. She sat quietly for a moment as if figuring out exactly what she wanted to say.
Finally, she settled on, “Well, I think that was a really awesome idea. Thank you for doing that. I’m perfectly okay with paying rent money and getting to go on vacation every few months.” She winked.
Relief washed over me as her reaction was far better than I thought it would be. But we had to get one thing straight. “But Kansas, let me tell you something. If you think that the only time we are going to get away is when we have enough of your rent money saved, you’re insane. Don’t think I’m not going to use my money to spoil us rotten too.”
She rolled her eyes and put her sunglasses back on. “I know. I know.”
“Sam, why do you have such an issue with me having money? I mean isn’t it better to have money than to struggle?” I wasn’t trying to insinuate a fight, but I was genuinely curious.
She sighed. “I don’t necessarily have an issue with it.”
“Bullshit. Talk to me.”
“You’re right. I’m sure money can help tremendously, but I’ve also seen the other side of that coin. Just because money can help someone, doesn’t mean that same person isn’t using that money to hurt someone, too. Let’s say we have a kid, and they are going to college. They don’t have the best grades, but we make a huge donation to the school to get them in. Yes, that’s great for our kid. We used that money to help them get a leg up…but think about the not so well-off kid with the awesome grades that we just took that spot from because their parents don’t have the same luxuries.”
Nodding, I replied, “I understand your point. I do. But I think you should know by now, that I am not using my money to try to bring anyone else down. We could use the money to help people instead of hurt them.”
“You’re a good man, Ty. And I am not meaning to sound like I am not grateful for everything you…and your money…have done for me. I will forever be appreciative. I’m sorry. I know I sound unreasonable. It’s just that when you don’t grow up with any money, it’s sometimes hard to hold grudges against people who do have it.”