Page 116 of Tainted

I leaned over to her ear, “I like how yours tastes.”

Zara tried to play coy, adjusting the flowers in her vase, but the way her cheekbones hiked up gave it away. “You’re disgusting.”

“I was referring to your tattoo. Now, whose mind is in the gutter?”

“You’re not too bad at this.”

“I’m good with my hands.”

“Yeah, you are.” She giggled, a sound I hadn’t heard enough from her lately.

My neck bucked, and she tried to shift her back toward me.

“Now, whose mind is in the gutter?”

Zara rolled her eyes and went back to arranging flowers. Every now and then, I caught her sneaking glances at me. And for once, I didn’t feel I had to have all the answers. Right now, I could just be here with her, doing something I never thought I’d enjoy.

Zara

Looking at Kenyon, I would’ve never expected him to plan something so thoughtful and sweet. Honestly, I still wasn’t sure he’d done it on his own. Now, he had me staring out the window, wondering where we were headed next.

“You look like you wanna jump out the window.”

“It’s hard to relax when you’re full of surprises,” I lied.

Truthfully, I was afraid of what was next. Kenyon was truly leaving an imprint on my heart. Not in a bad way, just in a way that made me wonder if it ended, would I be at home in his old sweatshirt like Brandy?

“Surprises are a good thing today, Babygirl. Relax.”

My curiosity was piqued when we arrived at the park. We stepped out of the car, and Kenyon grabbed my hand, forcing my steps to speed up. When we reached our destination, I dropped Kenyon’s hand because the setup looked like something straight out of a fairytale. before I could stop it.

“Aye, wipe them tears, man. You’re tough,” Kenyon played, hitting my arm twice and forcing me to swat his hand away.

“You're mine now,” I read aloud, shifting to Kenyon and his bright smile because he got a kick out of himself. “Umm, that’s not a question.”

“I’m not asking.” He was telling me. The guy I thought didn’t have a romantic bone in his body had just claimed me in the most thoughtful, beautiful way possible.

I turned to him, wiping my eyes, “So, I’m your girlfriend now?”

“Yeah, you are.”

We sat down together, eating gourmet takeout in the park and sipping on sparkling water like it was wine. It was perfect.

“So, how many picnics have you planned?”

“None, Zara Nicole.”

“What’s your middle name?” I asked, changing the subject to keep the wall up. Kenyon’s cuteness was making it hard enough.

“I’m not telling you.”

“My first day being your girlfriend, and you’re already telling me no?”

I smiled wryly at the look of irritation on his face.

“So, that’s how you think this will work?”

“It’s not like I asked for a million dollars. Girlfriends are supposed to know their boyfriend’s middle name.”

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