Page 194 of Kentrell

“Nah.” His response was instant. No hesitation. “Never did.”

A chill swept through me.

The truck felt colder all of a sudden.

“I always knew there was something off about him,” I murmured, staring down at my hands. “But I thought it was just… ego. Elitism.”

I sniffed, dragging the sleeve of his hoodie across my face.

“Maybe it still is. But I didn’t deserve the way he looked at me sometimes… like I was some insect crawling across the wall of his inheritance.”

Kentrell didn’t speak… but the way his grip tightened again told me enough.

I slumped down in my seat, tugging the hoodie tighter around me like armor.

“Maybe I’m jumping to conclusions,” I said after a long pause. “Maybe Vivian’s not some cold, elitist bitch… maybe she’s just… hurt. And Malcolm… he’s an entitled asshole to everybody. Not just me.”

I let out a bitter laugh, mostly to myself.

“You’re right though.”

Kentrell gave a slow, almost reluctant nod.

“I know.”

No smugness in his voice.

No ego. No I-told-you-so.

Just truth.

And right now…

That’s what I needed most.

Even if it hurt like hell.

I didn’t know how long we’d been driving in silence again.

Long enough for the skyline to disappear behind us… swallowed by the dark.

Long enough for the streetlights to stretch farther apart…

For the storefronts and brownstones to thin out… replaced by tall trees, long patches of black road, and stretches of nothing I didn’t recognize.

The hum of the tires against the asphalt became background noise… almost soothing… almost.

I curled my fingers tighter inside the sleeves of Kentrell’s hoodie, dragging the cuffs over my hands until they covered my knuckles.

The cotton still smelled like him—and I inhaled it slowly. There was something so soothing about his smell… his touch—everything involving him.

I sat up a little straighter, blinking at the blur of headlights passing in the opposite direction.

Finally, I asked, “Where are we going?”

Kentrell didn’t glance at me.

Just shifted lanes smooth as silk, his hands steady on the wheel.

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