Page 117 of Tainted

He pushed his fork around the mushroom risotto that I’d already demolished.

“Elijah.”

“KenyonElijahKeyes. Sounds like you need to be running for president or something.”

“I don’t need a title or the white house to run shit, Babygirl.”

“You are so corny, but you plan a good date, so your secret is safe with me.”

“That’s crazy. I don’t clown how you get to stuttering and shit. K-kenyon p-please!”

Embarrassed, My eyes grew wide as I rose to my knees, shoving my hand on his mouth. Somehow, his back landed on the blanket during our skirmish, and my arm propped on his chest. Kenyon’s arms slithered around my waist, creating a comfortable silence.

Until he broke it with a kiss on the tip of my nose, “You don’t have to play fake mad to touch me.”

“I’ll show you just how good I am at keeping my hands to myself tonight.”

“But we have to consummate the relationship tonight.”

“We’re not married,” I chuckled, going back to my side of the blanket before I did things that would make Banana Girl and Shana disown me.

“Yet.”

The way Kenyon’s fork slid between his lips had me pressing my knees together.

“Can I ask you something?”

He paused, staring at me for a moment, likely because that was my leading question whenever I wanted to ask something deep. After another forkful of Risotto, he closed the container and nodded.

“You said you never had a girlfriend before. Then what was Sydney?”

“Best friends that probably should’ve never fucked. At the time, she needed me, and I needed her, I guess.” His statement came out slowly, as if he had never been asked that question. “We got comfortable because it was easy.”

“So you like easy?”

“I like you,” he flirted, and I couldn’t stop blushing if I tried.

I was full and enjoyed sitting on this blanket underneath the sunset. It was exactly what I needed, and I had Kenyon to thank. We weren’t doing anything special, just enjoying the peace and making pointless conversation about the clouds.

“That one,” he said, pointing, “definitely looks like a dog. Or maybe a dragon.”

“We need to get your eyes checked,” I laughed, shaking my head, “That’s a rabbit. You can see the ears right there.”

Kenyon turned his head, squinting at the sky, pretending to see what I saw.

“That one right there is you, forehead and all,” he tensed, anticipating me hitting him for his comment. “Looks like the face you make whenever you get pissed off.”

My jaw dropped.

“Those look like those dry eggs you made the other morning,” I countered, unable to conceal my laughter at the shock on his face.

He gasped, “You told me my shit was good?”

“You’re good at many things, Kenyon Elijah. Cooking is not one of them.”

“Next time your greedy ass gets hungry, you’ll starve,” he replied in a jesting way that I never took seriously.

Moments like this made me fall harder for Kenyon. The whole night felt like a dream I never wanted to wake up from.

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