Page 33 of In a Perfect World

“There is no ‘what if’ in this scenario,” he shot back.“You have no choice, Kairo.It’d be one thing if a future was possible between you two, but it’s not.So, why risk everything for a guaranteed nothing?”

“So, that’s it?I just forget that she exists?”

Winston looked regretful as he answered me honestly.“Yes, that’s exactly what you do.”

Of course, he was right, and I knew it just as well as he did.However, he wasn’t feeling what I was feeling, and like a shot of heroin into my bloodstream, I wasn’t sure that it was even possible for me to just cut her off, pretending like that kiss had never happened.

“Kairo, man,” he said.“It’s for the best.It really is.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” I agreed, because he really was.Still, facts didn’t change how I felt about Triana, and if I had to do this on my own, then that’s what I was going to do.

Chapter 17

Triana~

A week later, and I still felt like I was going out of my mind.Even though Sonia had helped me with my resumé, finding a good job wasn’t as easy as one would hope, and so I was still jobless at the moment, something that burned in the back of my mind constantly.

There was also the fact that the situation with my parents was just getting worse.When Tomasco had finally called me the next morning, I’d told him about our parents firing me, and I’d never heard my brother so pissed off before.He had immediately come over to my house, and it had taken me over an hour to talk him down and convince him not to quit his job in solidarity with me.It’d been sweet, but him throwing his future away wouldn’t have helped anyone.

So, as of right now, I was still disowned, but according to the neighborhood gossips and Sonia, my parents were now also blaming me for Tomasco being angry with them.They were taking absolutely no accountability for their part in this mess, and it was getting harder and harder not to cave, if only for my brother’s sake.I also hadn’t spoken to Romelio, but that was a problem for another day.

Sonia was also being an absolute rockstar, doing her best to be there for me every time that I was close to falling apart.She was carrying the weight of all my emotional chaos, not judging me for any of my numerous meltdowns.

Plus, if me being jobless and hated by my parents wasn’t enough, Kairo was also there every night, reminding me of what couldn’t be.While I hadn’t gone back to the creek, he texted me every night, and I texted back, and though they weren’t full-blown conversations, they were enough to let me know that he was thinking of me, and I let him know that I was also thinking of him.

The biggest problem with those texts was that I looked forward to them like my entire future hinged on them, and that was the only reason that I was waiting by the cherry blossom tree now.I had texted Kairo to meet me, needing to put an end to what was happening between us.Not only was there no future for us, but I had so many other things that needed my attention right now.

When I heard the telltale sounds of footsteps in the foliage, I turned to see Kairo appear next to the oak tree, and this would be so much easier if he wasn’t so damn good-looking.While that sounded shallow as hell, it was still the truth.Humans were attracted to pretty things, and Kairo Booker was definitely pretty.

“Hey, baby,” he greeted, though his face looked wary.

“What are we doing here, Kairo?”I asked, getting straight to the point.“I mean...even if you weren’t who you are, this will never work.”

“You don’t know that,” he argued.“Laws change all the time.”

“Not these,” I replied surely.“You know it, and I know it.”