Page 118 of Kentrell

If he hadn’t unlocked a part of me I didn’t even know was there—if he hadn’t kissed me like my mouth was his favorite secret, or touched me like my body owed him rent—I’d be upstairs right now, sound asleep under untouched sheets.

But I wasn’t.

Because those sheets? They were drenched in his scent. The warmth of his cologne still clung to my pillows, soaked into the cotton like it had every right to linger.

And I felt a little dirty... a littlenaughty... for not wanting to wash them Saturday.

Let them stay soaked in sin a little while longer.

Let them smell likehim.

“I only use her when I’m stressed out, single, or when Susan’s riding my back about an account,” Ayesha added with a smirk, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“So… all the time,” I said flatly, the deadpan tone slipping out before I could catch it.

A small puff of laughter escaped from both of us.

“No, notallthe time,” she replied, rolling her eyes. “I’m not single now, remember?”

“Oh yeah… Rashad.” I shrugged, the name catching up to the conversation.

She nodded, and just like that, her whole face softened—eyes glowing in that way women get when they talk aboutthe one.

“I think he’s going to propose,” she said quietly, a slow, dreamy warmth coating her words.

A smile tugged at my lips. “Y’all look good together.”

“Weworkgood together too,” she added with confidence. “I love him.”

“Aww, cousin!” I beamed, pulling my knees up to my chest like a little girl. Her joy, honest and unfiltered, spilled into me like sunshine.

Love.

That big, impossible word.

It had always felt distant to me—like a lighthouse blinking in the fog, close enough to see, but never close enough to touch.

Still… Iwantedit.

The kind of love that didn’t require shrinking. One that could wrap around all the sharp, soft, messy parts of me and say,I see you—and I’m not going anywhere.

A love that knew me—unabashed.

A love so tender, I thought about it daily. In meetings. On rainy Tuesdays.

A love that could sense when my mood was slipping and show up, no questions asked.

A love reserved forme.Onlyme.

One that wouldn’t hesitate to make that clear to the world.

The more I thought about the love I wanted…

The more the dots connected to one person?—

Kentrell.

“Oh mygosh!”

---