What We Broke

by Marley Valentine

He looks at me with the fire of a thousand suns in his gaze,

“You have the most beautiful smile,” he says matter-of-factly before dropping the softest kiss on my lips.

“That’s what caught my eye first.”

I know, in this moment, with this kiss, there will never be another man in my life like Jesse. Whether we extend our twenty-four hours or not, the damage is already done. I am irreparably changed. And I know he is too.

“You’re mine,” he says with such finality. “You’re my worry, my heartache, my burden. Whatever you think you are, whatever season it is for us, you’re fucking mine, Leo.”