Zara
Looking at Kenyon, I would’ve never expected him to plan something so thoughtful and sweet. Honestly, I still wasn’t sure he’d done it on his own. Now, he had me staring out the window, wondering where we were headed next.
“You look like you wanna jump out the window.”
“It’s hard to relax when you’re full of surprises,” I lied.
Truthfully, I was afraid of what was next. Kenyon was truly leaving an imprint on my heart. Not in a bad way, just in a way that made me wonder if it ended, would I be at home in his old sweatshirt like Brandy?
“Surprises are a good thing today, Babygirl. Relax.”
My curiosity was piqued when we arrived at the park. We stepped out of the car, and Kenyon grabbed my hand, forcing my steps to speed up. When we reached our destination, I dropped Kenyon’s hand because the setup looked like something straight out of a fairytale. before I could stop it.
“Aye, wipe them tears, man. You’re tough,” Kenyon played, hitting my arm twice and forcing me to swat his hand away.
“ You're mine now ,” I read aloud, shifting to Kenyon and his bright smile because he got a kick out of himself. “Umm, that’s not a question.”
“I’m not asking.” He was telling me. The guy I thought didn’t have a romantic bone in his body had just claimed me in the most thoughtful, beautiful way possible.
I turned to him, wiping my eyes, “So, I’m your girlfriend now?”
“Yeah, you are.”
We sat down together, eating gourmet takeout in the park and sipping on sparkling water like it was wine. It was perfect.
“So, how many picnics have you planned?”
“None, Nicole.”
“What’s your middle name?” I asked, changing the subject to keep the wall up. Kenyon’s cuteness was making it hard enough.
“I’m not telling you.”
“My first day being your girlfriend, and you’re already telling me no?”
I smiled wryly at the look of irritation on his face.
“So, that’s how you think this will work?”
“It’s not like I asked for a million dollars. Girlfriends are supposed to know their boyfriend’s middle name.”
He pushed his fork around the mushroom risotto that I’d already demolished.
“Elijah.”
“Kenyon Elijah Keyes. Sounds like you need to be running for president or something.”
“I don’t need a title or the white house to run shit, Babygirl.”
“You are so corny, but you plan a good date, so your secret is safe with me.”
“That’s crazy. I don’t clown how you get to stuttering and shit. K-kenyon p-please!”
Embarrassed, My eyes grew wide as I rose to my knees, shoving my hand on his mouth. Somehow, his back landed on the blanket during our skirmish, and my arm propped on his chest. Kenyon’s arms slithered around my waist, creating a comfortable silence.
Until he broke it with a kiss on the tip of my nose, “You don’t have to play fake mad to touch me.”
“I’ll show you just how good I am at keeping my hands to myself tonight.”
“But we have to consummate the relationship tonight.”
“We’re not married,” I chuckled, going back to my side of the blanket before I did things that would make Banana Girl and Shana disown me.
“Yet.”
The way Kenyon’s fork slid between his lips had me pressing my knees together.
“Can I ask you something?”
He paused, staring at me for a moment, likely because that was my leading question whenever I wanted to ask something deep. After another forkful of Risotto, he closed the container and nodded.
“You said you never had a girlfriend before. Then what was Sydney?”
“Best friends that probably should’ve never fucked. At the time, she needed me, and I needed her, I guess.” His statement came out slowly, as if he had never been asked that question. “We got comfortable because it was easy.”
“So you like easy?”
“I like you,” he flirted, and I couldn’t stop blushing if I tried.
I was full and enjoyed sitting on this blanket underneath the sunset. It was exactly what I needed, and I had Kenyon to thank. We weren’t doing anything special, just enjoying the peace and making pointless conversation about the clouds.
“That one,” he said, pointing, “definitely looks like a dog. Or maybe a dragon.”
“We need to get your eyes checked,” I laughed, shaking my head, “That’s a rabbit. You can see the ears right there.”
Kenyon turned his head, squinting at the sky, pretending to see what I saw.
“That one right there is you, forehead and all,” he tensed, anticipating me hitting him for his comment. “Looks like the face you make whenever you get pissed off.”
My jaw dropped.
“Those look like those dry eggs you made the other morning,” I countered, unable to conceal my laughter at the shock on his face.
He gasped, “You told me my shit was good?”
“You’re good at many things, Kenyon Elijah. Cooking is not one of them.”
“Next time your greedy ass gets hungry, you’ll starve,” he replied in a jesting way that I never took seriously.
Moments like this made me fall harder for Kenyon. The whole night felt like a dream I never wanted to wake up from.