“A lot of people spend their prime searching for love and having fun,” he continued. “You spent yours building something. That doesn’t mean you don’t deserve to experience softness now.”
“You’re not wrong for wanting to feel chosen after being needed for so long,” he added. “There’s a difference.”
“I always thought love was going to feel like peace,” I admitted. “Not just responsibility.”
“Love is peace,” he said gently. “But partnership is work. The problem is when the work replaces the peace.”
“You ever dream about how it was supposed to be?” I asked quietly.
“Yeah,” he said. “I thought love was going to be fireworks forever. Turns out it’s mostly timing. Two people trying to arrive at the same emotional place at the same time.”
I wiped under my eye before a tear could fall.
“I just wanted someone to look at me,” I whispered, “and not see everything I do for them… but just see me.”
“Khloe… being appreciated and being seen are two different hungers. One feeds your ego. The other feeds your soul.”
“The crazy part about life,” he added gently, “is that people can live full lives starving spiritually because everything else looks perfect.”
I closed my eyes. “I don’t want to ruin my life chasing a feeling,” I said.
“You’re not chasing a feeling,” he replied. “You’re trying to understand yourself again. Big difference.”
I leaned my head against the tub.
“Do you think love changes… or people just stop nurturing it?”
“Love doesn’t disappear,” he said. “It just waits wherever it was last watered.”
“Sometimes,” he continued, “the bravest thing a person can do isn’t leaving or staying… it’s admitting they still want to feel something deeper.”
I exhaled shakily. “Why does talking to you feel… relieving?” I asked.
“Because I’m not trying to fix your life or change you,” he said. “I’m just listening to your truth.”
I covered my mouth and screamed in my head becauseOMG, what a fucking man!
“And Khloe?”
“Yeah…”
“You’re not wrong for wanting romance in a life that only asks you to be responsible. Some hearts don’t need more — they just need depth.”
My eyes closed. I didn’t feel dramatic anymore for everything I’d been wanting for myself. I felt understood and it felt good as fuck!
“You know what… come roll with me tonight. I froze. “What?”
“You heard me,” he said calmly. “Come roll with me tonight. I want to show you a good time and get a good taste of partying in your twenties.”
My stomach was in knots.
“Stacks…” I stood up, pacing across the bathroom. “That’s— that’s different.”
“It won't be wild or anything crazy,” he said gently. “It’ll mostly be my close friends and family. You won’t have to worry about being seen or judged. Just… music, food, people laughing and having a good time.”
That made it worse somehow because it sounded normal.
I leaned against the counter. “What do I tell my girls?”
