Streetlight Serenade

A thin blurred line

I can't stop thinkin' 'bout that night. The way Rico came through, how he stood between me and danger like it was nothin'. And then... then we lost control. It was like every feelin' I tried to bury came floodin' back, drownin' me in him. It was fire, pure and untamed, and I ain't felt nothin' like that in my life.

But now? Now I'm trippin'. I know better. I know who Rico is and what he's about. He's always been that protector, that rock I leaned on when things got rough, but this... this can't work. It ain't supposed to. I'm out here tryna build somethin' better for myself, for my future, and his world? It's not somethin' I can bring my kids into.

I stare at my phone, tryin' not to replay every detail of that night in my head. Tryin' not to think 'bout how his lips felt on mine, how his hands... God, I can't. I can't go back there.

The sound of my mom's voice snaps me outta my thoughts. She's in the kitchen, talkin' on the phone like always, oblivious to the storm brewin' inside me. I head out, needin' air, needin' space.

As I walk through the neighborhood, everything feels too loud, too close. I keep replayin' the look in Rico's eyes when he told me he couldn't lose me. How am I supposed to pretend that didn't mean somethin'? I love him, I always have, but love don't fix what's broken. Love don't erase the streets, the danger, the blood.

I end up at the park, sittin' on a bench, tryin' to get my head straight. But even here, I feel him. Like he's with me, his presence wrapped around me, remindin' me of what I'm runnin' from. Or who.

And just like that, my phone buzzes in my pocket. It's him. I don't even have to look at the screen to know. Rico always had this way of showin' up when I'm thinkin' 'bout him.

My heart races, my thumb hoverin' over his name. I know if I answer, I'm gon' get pulled right back into him, and I ain't sure if I'm strong enough to say no this time.