KNOX
“What bothers you so much about weakness?” I ask when she’s been silent for a while.
“It doesn’t really bother me,” she says quietly, eyes cast down at the sand. “I think I’m just jealous because I don’t know how to show myself that kind of grace.”
“What do you mean?”
“Growing up, I was always the easy kid. My brother was the high maintenance one. Thing is, when you meet people’s expectations with ease, they tend to continue to raise them. Until you grow up and learn to do that for yourself.” She turns out toward the ocean where a glimmer of light is starting to rise above the water. “I know I could change that, break that cycle. I’m an adult, no one’s forcing me to be one way or another, but as much as I know it’s not really an admirable trait, in a twisted sort of way, it’s still the one I’m most proud of. I’m strong. Even when I don’t want to be. Even when no one notices. And even when it makes me jealous of those who just choose not to be...and then still get told how amazingly strong they are.” She makes a face. Then she shakes it off. “Okay. I can’t keep talking. It’s freaking me out, all the shit I’m telling you.” She waves her free hand at me, like she’s trying to conjure something out of the core of my being. “Come on. Give me something. Something stupid. Or deep. Or just something you would prefer not to talk about but now have to because of your whole ‘all cards on the table’ speech.”
“Oh, it’s like that?”
“It’s definitely like that.”
I can’t help but smile. Goddamn, being with this woman is making my cheeks hurt already. “Good.” I tug her in closer,letting go of her hand and wrapping my arm around her waist instead. “You want something real I never come right out with? How’s this?” I take a breath before I commit. “Even though to the outside world, people would probably perceive me as the most successful of my parents’ children, I can never seem to escape the feeling I became their greatest disappointment.”
Her eyes widen and her mouth opens, and before even a word comes out, I can see the ache she feels on my behalf hearing my confession. “How could you possibly think that?” she whispers.
“I don’t know.” That’s not true. “I mean, I guess I do. My whole life, I always heard that family was the most important thing. That it didn’t matter how much money you had or what career you pursued, if you didn’t have people to share it with.” I shake my head, still hearing the words echo in my mind. “Getting married, having kids, building a good, stable life, that was the dream my parents had, the dream they lived. And then along I came. Recklessly abandoning everything they instilled in me to go out and chase music.” I tuck my chin to meet her gaze. “Don’t get me wrong. I know my parents are proud of me. I know that the same way you know that you don’t have to be the strong one for people to love you. But I also know that there were times I could have chosen relationships that might have led to marriage and kids, and I chose myself, because I wasn’t done with me yet.”
“And you think that was selfish,” she says quietly.
“Was told so often enough to know it was,” I mutter under my breath, forcing a chuckle to make light of the shame that still weighs on me because of it.
“I think whoever told you that just wanted to hurt you.” She finds the hand I have resting on her waist and wraps her own around it, squeezing it gently. “I think staying when you weren’t ready to offer all of yourself,thatwould have been selfish. Beingdishonest with yourself and your partner about that just to keep the comforts of having someone, would have been selfish. But walking away, being honest about where you were with yourself, and setting your partners free to find someone who could give them what they deserved, what they wanted, kind of sounds pretty selfless to me.”
We slow down until we come to a stop, and I turn her toward the ocean, standing behind her and wrapping both arms around her front, letting her rest on my chest while we enjoy the view. The sun just broke free on the horizon.
“I’ve never met anyone like you.” I rest my mouth against her ear. “No one’s ever seen light when I’ve shown them my darkness.”
“Not everyone is comfortable in the dark. Most people just shut their eyes to it. But I’ve spent enough time in my own shadow not to be scared by anyone else’s.” She tips her head back to smile up at me, eyes glazed. “I’ve found some of the best treasures in places others were too afraid to look.”
I don’t answer her except to lean down and kiss her softly. When I release her to take in the sunrise, she’s smiling in a way that makes me realize, she’s it. The reason I’ve been looking for to still believe in love. Magic. Fate. The possibility ofthis right herehappening between us. She’s the reason.
KENLEY
The view is stunning this morning. Every color from yellow to purple dances in the sky as the fiery sun rises over the ocean, and yet, all I can see in my mind’s eye, is the man standing behind me, both arms wrapped around me tightly in a way that makes me think he might be the one to never let me go. He’s more stunning to me than even that sky in all her sun-painted glory.
“Ready to start walking back?” he asks when the golden globe has cleared the ocean and sits like a glowing orb above the water.
I nod, naturally gliding from his chest to his side, our hands finding each other again along the way.
“Still interested in having me buy you a coffee?” I ask after we’ve been walking for a while, making silly small talk about the television shows we’d find most miserable to live in and why.
Now that we’re heading back to my truck, I’m not sure what happens next. With daylight creeping in as well, it’s hard not to feel a little like my carriage could turn into a pumpkin again at any second.
“I’m still interested,” he says. “In coffee. In sleep. In chores. In breakfast. Whatever it is you’re doing next, I’m interested.”
“I have a ‘fresh from the farmer’s market’ specialty, small batch, roast at my house I could make for us,” I offer. “That way I can let out the dogs, too. Plus, they’re probably wondering if they’re getting breakfast, given how long it’s been since they saw me last. And one of them may be stuck somewhere in need of assistance.” I flick my wrist, dismissing that last part. “It’s a thing. You’ll understand when you meet her.”
His brows rise ever so slightly, and he looks delighted at my newest revelation. “You have dogs?”
“I do,” I say with a nod. Ordinarily, I’d stop here, but as he’s already implied he’s willing to come home with me, I might as well warn him about what he’s set to encounter. “Three, to be exact. All rescues. All big. All extra furry. All super loud.” That essentially sums it up. Now to break it down. “What I’m saying is, they’re all high maintenance in their own unique ways. You’re likely to trip over them, step on them or be pushed out of the way by them anytime you attempt to move around, which in turn will lead to you being covered in every shade of dog hair – yes, every shade, I have a multi-colored pack – and while they’re usually all bark and no bite, the bark, or rather, the barks,are ear-shatteringly loud, particularly, when there’s a stranger, I come home or they’re adamantly reminding me that it’s time to eat again.” I smirk awkwardly, “I assume you’ve pieced together we’ll be dealing with all three of those scenarios upon arriving.”
“Then I guess we better get going,” he agrees, grinning. “Wouldn’t want anyone having food anxiety or risking bladder explosion on my account.” Then my expression must throw him, because he pokes my side and prods, “You look like you’re overthinking something.”
Busted.
“It’s just that my fur girls haven’t ever had a man show this kind of interest in their care,” I say, forming each word slowly and ending on an unnaturally high tone. Even my ex couldn’t be bothered, and one of them was officially his dog at one point. “Usually ‘we’ means me and Sloan.” That part at least, I got out sounding like me.
