Page 35 of Kairo

“You meant more to me than any of that shit.”

“Kairo…”

He moved toward me. He was inches away from me as he lifted his hands and placed one on each side of my face, looking me in my eyes.

“Junebug, I don’t know what the fuck you did, and I don’t know how you did it, but I’m sick behind you. These past two weeks been hard as fuck without you. I wanted to call and make sure you were good. I no longer cared about my pain but was more concerned about you.” Tears fell from my eyes, but I didn’t dare look away from Kairo. I wanted to make sure I heard and received everything he said. “Never thought I would be here, letting my heart win. I couldn’t go another two weeks, two days, two hours, or minutes without letting you know I love you too.”

Kairo placed his lips on mine. He backed up everything he said by pouring it into this kiss. My feet left the floor as Kairo lifted me up. On instinct, my legs wrapped around his waist, andI had the upper hand on the kiss. I kissed Kairo so he could know that I received everything he said, and I loved him more.

Kairo pulled away and placed me on my feet.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

He grabbed my hands and placed a kiss on each one. “Junie, are you okay?”

It felt as if a weight I didn’t realize I carried was lifted off my shoulders. I fell into Kairo’s chest and sobbed. Everything that happened came rushing back to me.

“What am I supposed to do now?” I sobbed into his chest. “All I have now is my brother. The people I thought I could trust all lied to me.”

“Let me carry that weight for you. I’m here and I’m not going anywhere. We start our own lives now. Fuck the Iron Knights. Fuck the Savage Saints. We all we need.”

I pulled away from Kairo and stared into his eyes through my wet ones. “Are you sure?”

He nodded. “Yep, somehow, some way, you took over my heart, and I ain’t never letting you go. Let them motherfuckers kill each other. I got what I want in the end.”

He kissed my lips and wiped my tears.

“And what’s that?”

“You.”

Junie laidon my chest while I ran my fingers through her hair. We were at the lake house still but laid in bed after we explored each other’s bodies for hours. It was quiet and I heard the sound of bugs and frogs through the thin walls of the house. Junie rubbed her fingers along my thigh as if she was drawing a pattern. I could tell she was lost in thought.

“You cool, Junie? Something on your mind?”

She sighed. “I’m just thinking… about what’s next for us. Shit, what’s next for anybody…”

“What do you want to do? Whatever you decide I’m supporting you one hundred percent,” I said, reassuring her.

“I know one thing I want to do.”

“What’s that, beautiful?”

“I want to visit my dad.”

My body went stiff. Since I found out about Prez being responsible for killing my father, I imagined myself placing multiple bullets through his brain. Prez was supposed to be dead. The only reason he wasn’t was because of Junie.

“Should I go to the police? Tell them my father killed my mother?” she asked.

“Jail would be too sweet for him, if you ask me.”

She sat up and peered into my eyes. “Do you think we could do this?”

“Do what?” I asked, rubbing her arm.

“Be together. If we sit here and think about everything. It’s unorthodox.”

I agreed. Our love story wasn’t typical, but it was ours. It was created over pain and trauma. One thing I knew was that pressure created diamonds.

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