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“I’m fine, Daddy. I meant to call Momma back, but I’ve been working hard on that house I told you about. I be tired.” It was mostly the truth.

“Where are you?”

“With my boss on a trip to buy supplies.”

My momma’s voice cut through the line next. “Are you safe?”

“I am. I swear.”

They asked too many questions. I gave them the answers they needed, and I promised to call them again tomorrow.

We got back on the road after that. It was less than an hour to our destination. I was leaning my head on the window, watching the trees blur, until Sam slowed down unexpectedly.

“Look,” he said, pointing to the right.

It was a sunflower field.

Not a patch—a whole field of them. The yellow heads swaying, reaching toward the sky like they were praise dancing.

“Pull over,” I whispered. Something about seeing them made me want to run through them, touch them.

We got out. Sam reached for my hand, his fingers threading through mine as we wandered deep into the rows.

In the middle of it all was a tall tree, half-swallowed by the edge of the field. Carved into the trunk were the words:

Love loves Kevlar

And under the name, someone had carved a tree, and each branch had a different name. There were fifteen—I’m assuming children and relatives.

I ran my fingers over the letters and imagined what they looked like. With names like Love and Kevlar, they were probably Black. With dark skin and nice-looking. People who carved their names in trees were always nice-looking in the movies.

Sam was quiet.

“You think they’re still together?” I asked. Hoping they were, but not too much. It seemed too easy for love to dissipate. You could be carving your name into a tree one day and falling out of love the next.

He looked down at me, eyes soft.

“I do. I at least hope so, since they have such a big family tree.”

A crack of thunder rolled low in the distance, interrupting our conversation. We both looked up. The sky had shifted. Clouds were darkening fast.

The rain came suddenly—big, heavy drops fell from the sky like the clouds had just decided the earth needed renewal and opened.

My hair was silk-pressed, and the last thing I needed was for it to get soaked. I shrieked and tried to run, but Sam caught me from behind, spinning me into him, mouth crashing onto mine like he was starving. He fed me his tongue.

The kiss turned frantic. Then slow. Then everything in between.

I grabbed at his shirt, and he helped me peel it off, his hands sliding down my back like he couldn’t get enough of me. We sank down into the grass, wet. I was so cold and trembling, half-mad with how much we needed this. Needed each other.

He pushed my dress up around my hips and slid my panties to the side and pushed inside me, sucking my titties as he stroked me slow. His dick caused a deep, aching stretch that burned. His body was warm despite the rain and wind. I clung to him. For warmth, for pleasure.

The sound of my name rolled off his tongue like a confession as he danced inside of me.

The rain soaked us both, my hair flattened to my scalp, his breath hot in my ear.

This shit felt magical.

“I love you,” I said.