I met Arden at a friend’s barbecue, and he stood out right away. He sat next to me on the deck, chatting about his job as an engineer without sounding full of himself, laughing at my silly jokes, and making me feel like I mattered in a way I hadn’t before.
“This might sound wild,” he said six months later, as we walked through a park covered in autumn leaves, “but I’ve never felt this way about anyone.” His eyes locked on mine, open and honest. “I don’t want anyone else, Saffron.”
That’s what I loved about Arden—he was real. No tricks, no acting. Just himself. In a world full of hidden agendas, he was a breath of fresh air.
His family, though? That’s where things got messy.
