Page 56 of My Karmic Destiny

The wheel jerks to another stop halfway down.

“Tessa?” Kurtis pulls back and looks me in the eye. “Did you feel that?”

I know he’s not talking about the ride, but the energy brewing between us.

“I did.” It’s my turn to initiate a kiss, and he hums happily when I do.

21

STARS AND CHILL

KURTIS

Tessa’s smile could light up an entire city. I love that I put that gleeful expression on her face. I know she said I don’t have to bring anything but myself to the table, but that’s debatable. I need to offer her something the others don’t. Otherwise, why have me at all?

One guy is plenty, two is probably too much, and three is plain redundant.

Dante is her sensitive, empathic dude. I’m sure he fucks like a pro, too.

And Evan offers her a strong shoulder, someone she knows she can rely on in a storm. He will bring his own dominant style and charm to spice up the bedroom.

What do I have? I doubt I’m a memorable fuck.

I couldn’t even keep a girlfriend before Instant stole my life. Probably because I’m too much. And yet, still I’m not enough.

My parents abandoned me long before they died. Neglectful would be an understatement.

I was never good enough for them. Never worth more than their addictions.

Perhaps I’m not unique and everyone feels like they won’t be loved on some level. No matter how amazing or attractive they are.

Sad.

The way Tessa kisses me on the Ferris wheel, it feels like love for me… or the beginnings of it.

Her reassurance that I’m healing lifts my spirits more than I can say in words.

I’m going to be okay. Maybe one day I will be good enough to deserve her love.

And right now, she just likes me for me.

Tessa has seen the uglier parts of me. She’s experienced some of my worst moments. But she’s kissing me, forgiving me for being an ass.

That forgiveness means more coming from her. She had a rough childhood, and she knows the scars it leaves—seen and unseen. I doubt forgiving comes easily.

We break away from the kiss and just sit, forehead to forehead, immersed in the other person.

Have I really ever had that?

No, not even with Evan, not yet anyway.

This connection with Tessa is rooting inside me, soul deep. If she leaves me, I’ll never recover.

“Tessa?” I fall into her hypnotic eyes. “Did you feel that?”

“I did.” She initiates a kiss with me, and I swear my heart explodes with joy.

The Ferris wheel was more than I ever hoped for. We run through some of the other carnie games and rides. Tessa teaches me some tricks of the hustler’s trade she learned in her former adventures in life.

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