Provoke

by Ava Harrison

Keep your face always toward the sunshine and the shadows will fall behind you -Walt Whitman

“My darling, friends can break us just as easily. Sometimes, it even hurts more.”

This whole thing screams Raven. I might barely know her, but the balloons are all her. She’s a ray of sunshine—my Rae.

“Ch-Charles.” "That’s right, Rae. My Rae of fucking sunshine. Say it again. Say my fucking name again.”

She’s becoming the only sunshine in my life.

“I’m falling for you, Raven Bennett. Against all my rules, you’ve broken down the walls I thought were fortified.” He places his hands on my cheeks, staring into my eyes. Blue on blue. Hope and anticipation. Lust. Longing. Love? “I believe you could be the woman who brings me to my knees. I could love you one day, Raven. Hopelessly.”