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I fell for the blond-haired, blue-eyed boy next door that night, but I was too stupid to know it.
Teary eyes search mine. “We don’t have problems,” she whispers. My chest constricts. “You’re not mine, Kens,” I gently tell her, pain I didn’t mean to show clear as day. “And that’s a problem for me.”
She’s infectious. Everything about her screams to everything in me.
She is, without a doubt, everything I could ever want. Kind and gentle but spunky with a splash of sass. She smiles with her heart and hurts with all she is. She’s more than I ever knew a person could be. She’s the light I’ve never known but now crave.
Defense. That’s what Lolli called it. But that’s the problem, isn’t it? Because, when it comes to Kenra Monroe, I’ve always been defenseless.
And, just like that, my heartbeat blends into hers. Every breath she forces past her lips, I inhale. Every tremble from her body ripples through mine. Every crease that starts to form at the edges of her eyes, the pinch that takes over her forehead, I feel the pain that created them. Our slow and subtle sway feels like the end of something that hasn’t even begun.
We were only supposed to be friends, but somewhere along the way, I forgot to remember she wasn’t mine to keep and gave her my heart anyway.
And, once again, my heart drives away, and there isn’t a damn thing I can do to stop it.
“Don’t worry,” he whispers into the dark morning, and I breathe in his words. “Be happy.”
I’m toxic for him. But he’s light for me. And I’m afraid, if I lose my light, the dark will swallow me whole. The pain will need to sting longer, the cuts will grow wider.
“But you have to know what it meant to me, Kens.” He glances up then. “Every time you’ve ever been in my arms, from four years ago to five minutes ago, every damn time … it means something to me. You mean something to me.”
“You want me; you always have. I know this. So, I’m sorry if it’ll be hard for you, but I’m going all in. No more holding back. I can’t make decisions for you, but I can’t live with the regret of never trying.”
“It won’t work, Parker.” “Maybe not,” he admits and then sighs. “Probably not, but I still have some hope, Kens. Even if you’ve lost yours.”
But damn if it isn’t the truest statement I’ve ever read. Happiness is a choice. And I choose to sacrifice my own for the sake of those I love.
Kenra is one broken, strong person🥺
She might be his as far as labels go, but I live inside her, just like she does me. In my bed or his, it doesn’t matter. I refuse to ever see her as anything other than mine.
“I don’t know how you do it, but you always manage to pull me from my reality and into a brighter one.”
This girl in front of me—this is my Kenra. Every damn bit of her. Every single inch is mine. That glazed look in her eye, the slow blink of her lashes, and the deep rise of her chest tell me she damn well knows it.
“You’re worth everything I have, Kens,” he whispers, and a small smile takes over my lips. “Everything I am is already yours; you just have to take it.”
“You leave here; I break. You don’t come back; I shatter. You live unhappy, unloved, and underappreciated, and I fucking die inside, Kenra. Please. Don’t go.”
Parker Baylor. 🥺
“Because I love her. Always have and always will. Can’t shake her. As long as she comes back, I’ll be here.”
I’m convinced I’m the only one who can bring her back to being her. And I will. Because I’m her safety. And I’ll be her defense, protect her from anyone who gets in her—in our—zone even if I have to protect her from herself.
“I’ve failed you, Parker, in so many ways, so many times, but no more. Never again. I promise you.”
“I don’t wanna wait anymore.” “Wait for what, baby?” he breathes. “Tell me. Say it for me.” My eyes pop open to lock on his. “I wanna be yours … I’ve been yours.”
“I’ve got no more plays. I’m all out of defense here. Gotta keep you now.”
“Didn’t you know, Mr. Baylor?” I lick his lips, and he groans, trying to catch my lips, but I pull back. “When it comes to each other, our hearts are defenseless. No way out. No others in.”
🥲♥️
When his head lifts, his eyes anchor mine, such a deep, endless blue. So clear and alive. So Parker, my safety.
♥️♥️♥️♥️
“I love you, Kenra Monroe,” he whispers. “Always.” “Always,” I whisper back with a smile of my own. This is it. The beginning.
“Me and you, every night, Nightingale.” She grins against my lips, her eyes still closed. “Every night, Safety.”
She’s everything I ever wanted and nothing I thought I’d ever have. But here she is. In my arms. My nightingale.
