"Crazy thing is... I really thought I was over you." He rubbed at his jaw slowly. "Like foreal. Thought all that Army shit would've beat it out me or somethin'. Years passing... different states... different women... all that." He shook his head once. "Whole time that shit ain't do nothin' but make me realize wasn't nobody else you." Dakota stayed quiet, just listening while he leaned back deeper into the couch, tiredness all in his face. "You know how many nights I used to sit up while my daughter sleepin' just thinkin' 'bout old shit?" he muttered. "Thinkin' 'bout how bad I fucked us up. Thinkin' 'bout you probably somewhere happy as hell while I'm arguing with a woman that hate every damn thing about me." He looked down at his hands for a second before looking back at Dakota again. "But you?" he said quietly. "You always knew how to deal with me. Even back then when I ain't know how to deal with myself." His eyes moved toward the stairs where his daughter was sleeping before he spoke again. "I ain't gone lie, seeing my baby come home everyday talking 'bout 'Miss Dakota this' and 'Miss Dakota that'... that shit was fucking me up before I even knew it was YOU." He smirked a little at that. "Then I walk into that classroom and damn near forget how to breathe for a second." The room went quiet again before he finally leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees. "I still love you, Dakota," he admitted finally, straight up this time. "Ain't no smooth way to say that shit. I tried moving on. Tried building somethin' else. Tried forcing myself to be happy with somebody else 'cause I figured maybe that was just life." He swallowed hard before shaking his head. "But every time something good happened... or bad happened... you was still the first person I wanted to tell."

After a tragic house fire kills her parents, grieving Elana Brownstone and her volatile fiancé Darnell are given a second chance: a pristine new home in the exclusive, tight-knit neighborhood of Dreamville. Six identical gray houses, Perfect lawns, 𝐚 community that promises to heal broken relationships. But beneath the picture-perfect surface, something ancient and hungry is watching. As Elana's grief spirals and her relationship turns dangerously toxic, she discovers that Dreamville doesn't just want new residents... It wants to own them...𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑.

After a traumatic event, Asia is saved by a woman who is a "dancer" at Suga. Desperate for a way off the dangerous streets of Atlanta and a place to sleep rather than her car, she goes to see if she could make money for her dormant dance talent, but is surprised by who the owner is. (𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐃 : 𝐒𝐡𝐮•𝐆𝐮𝐡) 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 𝐁𝐎𝐎𝐊-𝐃𝐎𝐍'𝐓 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃.

Kairo is scared his autism will stop him from finding love.

Avery was raised on control. Taught to be poised, disciplined, have a routine, restraint. She was smart, Focused. Unshakeable. A patient in the psychiatric ward meant nothing to her personally. She was there to help. To follow protocol. To do her job. Cassian was a psychopath. Running the streets of Chicago ruthlessly. Cold-hearted. Clinically incapable of love. Until he saw Avery. The pretty nurse who kept her distance. Who never crossed lines. Who didn't realize she'd already been 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐧. Are psychopaths really incapable of love?

Solani keeps her worlds separate. In real life she's a hairstylist, the glue of her household, and the best friend Caiden has leaned on for four years. Online she's Nova - no face, no real name, no connection to anyone who actually knows her. It's worked perfectly. Until Caiden starts talking about Nova's page like Solani isn't the one running it. Caiden is on the verge of everything he's been working toward. Upcoming rapper, buzz building, industry doors opening - and a type he's never been quiet about. He's been subscribed to Nova for six months. Has no idea the girl on his screen is the same one beside him every day. When his "best friend" Jade - the same girl who introduced them years ago - blows Solani's cover in the worst way possible, four years of carefully kept secrets crack straight down the middle. Now there's Ty'lil, Caiden's own associate, paying Solani the kind of attention Caiden never let himself give. There's an ex sliding back in at exactly the wrong time. Side chicks going public. A whole circle of people with agendas. And a secret about Jade that nobody saw coming. Two proud, emotionally unavailable people. Four years of almost. One secret that changed everything. They said they were only friends. They lied.

𝐈'𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐨. 𝐈 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞. *this is my first book, please don't stress ya selves out bc I did while writing it! 😭

After a tragic ending to her last relationship would she be able to open up again? To her first love (CURRENTLY EDITING)

"submittere", which means "to yield or put under".