Page 35 of In a Perfect World

“Okay, fine,” I said, pushing at his chest, my legs dropping, needing to face that we weren’t on the same page.“It’s fine...I...I get it.”

Though he’d been courteous enough to let me go, he didn’t let me leave.Standing in front of me, his hands on my hips, he said, “No...you don’t get to leave like this.”

I looked into his eyes, everything that I was feeling making me angry and desperate at the same time.“Then give me a reason to stay.”

Chapter 18

Kairo~

I knew that this was a bad idea, but I also knew that I’d never see her again if I let her go like this, and that was a thought that I couldn’t bear.Whatever had brought Triana into my life, I didn’t care.I just knew that I needed to experience her and figure out a way to keep her.

“Is falling in love with you enough to make you stay?”I asked, fairly certain that that’s what was happening here.

Her dark eyes immediately flooded with tears and pain, and her voice was a raw mixture of both when she said, “Don’t say that...don’t say that to me.”

“Why not?”I asked, even though I already knew the answer.“Why not, when it’s true?”

“H...how can you say that?”she stammered, panic threatening to hit her hard.“We’ve only known each other a few days.”

“Because I’m not some teenage kid, high on hormones, so I know what I feel,” I told her.“Plus, we might have only met, but between this place, our conversations, and our texts, I’ve spent more time with you in these past few days than I’ve been spending with anyone else.It’s to the point where I can’t sleep without a goodnight text from you.”I took her face in my hands again.“I know what I feel, Triana.I know that I would not be standing here if this wasn’t love.Do you honestly believe that I’d risk so much for something less than love?”

“Then why won’t you be with me?”she asked candidly, and I could appreciate her getting to the point since we were limited on time.

“Because you deserve more than...than a quick fuck in the woods,” I practically spat.“This thing between us deserves more.”

“And while I couldn’t agree more, that’s not an option for us,” she argued.“All we have are stolen moments, and that’s not going to change, Kairo.”

I hated that she was right about that, but I still had to believe that there could be more for us.For whatever reason, God had put Triana in my path, and He’d done it for a reason, and it sure as hell wasn’t for a quick fuck.Unknown to me, there was a plan in place, and I had to trust that.

“Are you sure that you want this?”I asked, needing to be certain that she was all in.“I need you to be sure, baby.”

“I want you,” she said without any hesitation.“I want to feel something real with you, Kairo.”

I ran my thumb across her lip, and she really was fucking killing me.“I don’t have any condoms on me.”

She looked so forlorn that I wanted to take the words back.“I’m...I’m on the pill,” she said.“I know that...I trust you if you can trust me.”