All I Need (The Knights, #1)

by E. Salvador

For the over thinkers who just need a little reassurance.

I wish I were like my best friends, without a care in the world, but my mind likes to screw me over, thinking of the worst-case scenarios.

A sassy redhead won’t leave my mind. Her hair was a golden copper color, and her striking eyes an earthy, forest green infused with specks of brown.

“Wait, Peaches,” I call, following her until I’m walking next to her. She quickens her pace. “Stop calling me Peaches.”

“We would’ve never met, and you would have never known what it’s like to have a real boyfriend.”

“Show you what an actual boyfriend is supposed to be like.”

I don’t think I’ve ever liked the sound of a laugh more than I do now.

“I don’t need to know much to know that you’re it for me.”

“What’s your favorite Shrek movie?” She snorts. “You’re not really determining whether we’re meant to be over my preference of a Shrek movie?” “Just answer the question. It’s important.” Lola beams. “Two, of course.” “I knew it, Peaches, we’re meant to be.”

“Lola, wait.” I turn my camera on, almost forgetting that I have it on me. “Can I take your picture? How am I supposed to obsess over you if I don’t have anything to look at?”

There are many things I don’t do, and begging is one of them, but for her, I’m going to do just that.

“Ready for our date, girlfriend?” His smug tone snaps me out of my stupor. When I meet his whiskey-colored eyes, he cocks a brow and a breathtaking smile stretches across his face. Pull yourself together! “Date?” “Have you already forgotten about our date? About me?” TJ places a hand on his chest, feigning disappointment. “Does she do this often?” he asks the girls, though his attention is solely on me, and I’m sure they’re not paying attention to me as they’re too busy talking to his friends. “Do what?” I ask him. “Break hearts.”

“There’s no going back. You’re stuck with me for life and by life I mean until Saturday.” “For life.” “For life, Peaches.”

Because with TJ, it doesn’t feel like I did. With him, everything feels so…comfortable…so normal.

I can’t help but feel at ease with him.

“Just something small, so you never forget me,” I tease, taking out the bracelet wrapped in white tissue paper from my purse, and hand it to him. “I don’t think I could ever forget you.” He shakes his head, taking the gift, and slowly and carefully pulls the tissue paper back. “A bracelet?” His lips quirk up, but when he grabs the faux leather and holds it up to the sky, a megawatt smile takes over his face. “Peaches.” He quietly chuckles, reading the name engraved, then wraps it around his wrist and snaps it closed.

Even if it’s all fake, I’m going to pretend that he genuinely loves that I got us matching bracelets.

“First base couple shit.” “First base couple shit,” I repeat, the smile on my face growing as tiny flutters erupt inside my stomach.

“You look beautiful.”

So what’s up with the camera?” I ask as he holds the door open for me to step inside. He had that same camera hanging from his neck last night and this morning. “Can I really be considered a boyfriend if I don’t have pictures of my girlfriend?” TJ doesn’t wait for me to respond as he continues. “Thought I could take pictures of art next to art.”

“You think we balance each other out?” “No, I know we do,” he whispers, his minty breath ghosting over the shell of my ear. “You’re calm, I’m chaos, and together we can create something beautiful…don’t you think?” “Yeah…I think we could.” I take a step back until I’m firmly against his chest.

“Peaches?” He grins when I roll my eyes at the nickname. Although it’s kind of grown on me. “Yeah?” “You’re worth it.”

TJ’s done an amazing job of making me forget about everything. I was solely focused on his eyes, his heart-shattering smile, and everything we did.

I’m not sure how I’ll ever get over this, but one thing is for certain: I’ll never forget him.

“Whatever happens and is said here, stays here.”

“I’m a little anxious about the real world…” he trails off as if he’s doubting what he just said or is unsure if he should have said that. “I mean, I’m ready, but sometimes I think about how one thing could fuck everything up.”

“It’s nerve-racking, isn’t it? One domino falls, and the rest fall and there’s nothing you can do but watch it go to shit.”

“We should make a promise to each other.” “What kind of promise?” “Finding our happy and reminding ourselves that everything will be okay.”

“Good. Never settle for less.”

“I like basketball and⁠—” “Oh my God, if you love basketball, then I need to show you T⁠—” “Move over, Pols.” A deep voice stops her finger from tapping the screen.

He looks every bit like TJ, from the brown curls, the whiskey in his iris, the nose, his long fingers, breathtaking smile, and height.

Uncapping my bottle, I then chug half of it down. That’s until the redhead turns around, and when our eyes lock, the water gets lodged in the back of my throat and I choke.

I ignore the question and stare dumbfounded at the girl in front of me. “Lo—” I cringe at the sound of my hoarse voice. Wiping the water away, I clear my throat. “Lola.” “TJ.” Her voice is a mere whisper of disbelief, eyes wide with something I can’t read. “You two know each other?”

May 26. Peach juice. Our talk on the beach. The bracelets. The museum. The pictures. The painting. The dolphins. The sunset. Her.

We fucked all night, though I’m not sure fucked is the appropriate term for what we did. It was slow and so damn good.

My body, my brain, and my eyes work of their own accord. As if hearing Little Red and spotting the girl with golden copper hair was an everyday occurrence. Because somehow, amongst the sea of students, I instantly spot her.

She fucking smiles at me. A genuine, warm smile that feels unreal.

“How could I not?” I twist my wrist to show it off. “It was a birthday gift from my ex-girlfriend.” Her brows shoot up in disbelief. It was all pretend to her, but it was real to me. She was my first and only girlfriend.

The next post I click on is of a kid with curly brown hair, honey eyes, and the cutest fucking smile. Reading the caption, my eyes do a double take on the kid because she captioned it My Muse. My Little Bear. My Phoenix. My mind spirals to weird thoughts, but I quickly bury them away because the kid looks nothing like her.

Touching her is nostalgic. I find myself wanting to grasp onto a moment from the past and not let go.

“Why a phoenix?” I ask, ignoring the way my hand heats up against her skin and how I can feel her erratic pulse before I let go of her wrist. “The meaning. It symbolizes the renewal of life.” Her voice is low, almost a whisper. “Overcoming the odds in life.”

“Until tomorrow, Lola.” “Until tomorrow, TJ.”

It’s true what they say, we’re our own worst critics. While TJ sees a masterpiece, I see a painting that still needs a lot of work. I shouldn’t be overanalyzing something I did in a span of a few hours, but I can’t help my probing thoughts.

“You can’t do that to yourself, Peaches,” he chastises. I hold back the urge to roll my eyes at the nickname because I’ve realized now that even after two years, it’s not something he’s going to let go of. “Do what?” “Downplay yourself. Be confident in what you do all the time. Even if it doesn’t always come out the way you want it to the first time. You don’t always have to be humble.”

“A month after I left Miami, I found out I was pregnant. With your baby.”

“We have a baby together.”

“What did you expect to gain out of all of this?” His question throws me off, and the voice in my head is screaming that I’m not going to get the outcome I expected. It’s also telling me this is going to be much worse than I realized, but I decide not to overthink.

“I just wanted you to know that we have a baby. I wanted our⁠—” TJ scoffs, his lips tightening in a straight line. “Just cut the bullshit and stop pretending. What did you expect to gain out of all this?”

“I’m not lying. I’m telling you the truth. I promise we have a baby together. I know it’s hard to believe, but it’s the truth.”

“Lola, for fuck’s sake. You really thought I”—he points his thumb at his chest—“was going to believe this? You really expect me to believe that you and I have a baby? A fucking baby?” He laughs with no humor. “You thought you were clever, didn’t you? This is some next-level stalker shit.”