"If you were really my best friend, you'd see that you were the only person I've ever wanted to be with. You've been dating everyone else while I'm just sitting around waiting for you to open your damn eyes!" I yelled at him as tears streamed down my cheeks. He looked at me with wide eyes, clearly confused. He then held a sympathetic look on his face when he saw how passionate I was about this entire situation. I can't believe he didn't realize all these years that he was the one I wanted to be with all along. "How was I supposed to know Riley? You didn't tell me shit!" He yelled back at me but still held his same sympathetic look. I shook my head at him, wiping my face as I backed away from him, stepping into a pile of snow in the process. There was already snow on ground but more snow had just started to fall from the sky. "Look, I have to go. My mom wants me home for dinner." I said turning on my heels and walking away towards my house. I didn't even bother looking back but I knew he was still standing there. I wondered if he'd run after me or if he'd sweep me off my feet like I always imagined but no, nothing. Just broken dreams and maybe even a broken friendship. *For hopeless romantics

"Woah, slow down. What?" I heard him say and I furrowed my eyebrows, looking up. "Ma.." He trailed off and I already knew it was his mother. "That has nothing to do with you." He said and I sat up because I could hear him getting angry. "What's wrong?" I asked him and he put his phone on speaker. "I can't believe you got that little.." She trailed off, too angry to even get her words out. "..whore pregnant, Sage." "And then the little slut gets an abortion, I hope she knows that she will rot in hell." She said and my heart dropped. He hung up the phone on her before she could say anything else. "Baby." He looked at me as I bit my lip, standing to my feet. "Olive." He stood to his feet as well. I quickly walked to the bathroom and closed the door behind me before Sage could catch me. I broke down crying as he stood on the other side of the door. "Babygirl, I love you." "I love you too." I told him, breathing heavily. "Don't cry, love. Nothing she says matters, she's just mad because I love you so much and there's nothing she can say to change that." "Open the door for me please?" I wiped my face before I slowly opened the door for him. "I'm done with her." He said, shaking his head. He pulled me to him, wrapping his arms around my waist as he shoved his head into my neck. "Until she can learn to respect you as my lady, she's out of our life."

Tomboy

"You no tell this girl that I said, I want no relations with a darkie?" She spat to me, making my eyes go wide. What? I thought to myself and Gio tried pulling me away but I snatched away from him, knowing I heard right this time. "Wait, what?" I spoke out loud and Gi grabbed me roughly, trying to pull me away again. "Why you saying these things? She's beautiful." I heard his abuelita sticking up for me as she stood to her feet and all the guys began to as well, telling their mom that she was wrong for what she was doing. "That puta heard me." She spat, pointing her finger at me. "You're too dark." She held up a brown paper bag that she was drinking her beer out of. "You no match this bag or lighter, you're too dark." "You look too much like his father. I no want you around me." She shooed me off, instantly breaking my heart into a billion pieces as I looked up at Giovanni who was looking down at me with hurt in his eyes. "Baby, please." He begged and I shook my head at him in disgust before putting my attention back onto her. "Get that darkness out of here, Giovanni. She's a demon." "Only demons have her color." She kept on going and I felt sick to my stomach in this moment as I stood there in complete shock.

Ruffian 3 (The Trilogy)

Sinner 2. (The Sequel) "Aight, baby." He reluctantly grumbled, looking down into my eyes. "Whatever you want, I'a do it." Was all he said and I raised my eyes in shock. "You want me to leave this shit alone, you want me to leave this game? I'a do it." He looked down into my eyes seriously. "You hear me?" "It's done, baby. It's over." "What?" "Really?" I asked in disbelief, considering he was so content last night and this morning about his initial decision. "Yes, G." "You want me to stop? Then it's over." He said, licking his lips and I couldn't help to smile small, feeling 100% better. Apart of me believed him but a small part of me felt like he was just trying to make things better for the moment. "Do you promise, Abir?" I spoke barely above a whisper now and he nodded, looking away from me. "Yeah, ma." "Whatever you want." Then it's settled.

"Halima just called me." She spoke up, talking about my sister. "She said your mom wanted to talk to me." "Oh yeah.." I trailed off, thinking about what my brother had just told me. "She wun' see you and Mya." I told her, already knowing what it was my mama wanted from her. "Yeah, I know. We just talked." She spoke surely as I licked my lips slowly, waiting for what she was going to say next. I already knew she wasn't feeling it. "It's just-" "I don't want to go down there and you-" She started but stopped as I waited for her to speak. "-you get involved with them again." She spoke truthfully, saying shit that I already knew she would. I already knew she was gone bring that shit up. She always do. "I don't trust Delante or any of your stupid ass friends because they are only interested in taking you backwards, Cain." "And I'm not going for that again." "I'm not." She spoke seriously and I sighed deeply, really used to hearing this shit already. "We're at a better place in our lives and I'm not playing those street games anymore."

"Cain, if you can't leave the streets for me and our baby, then me and you, we're done." I pointed between the two of us as tears streamed down my face and he bit his lip, looking down at the floor before he looked back up into my eyes. "Aight." "Shit over then, babygirl."

"So when you gon' stop playing and let me hit that shit, Zuria?" Mitch asked while he smoked a blunt in my mother's living room and we both sat on the floor. "Let you hit this?" I asked, raising an eyebrow as I watched him blow smoke into the air. "Yeah." He smirked, cockily. "How about when you learn how to talk to your girlfriend?" I took the blunt out of this hands and smashed it on the ashtray that was on the coffee table. "Whatchu do that for?" He bit his bottom lip, leaning into me. "Hm?" He went on, softly biting my neck. "I've told you, you can't smoke in here, Mitchell." "You're really not even supposed to be here." I said to him, considering my mother did not condone boys in her house but here he was. He'd completely ignored me though as he mushed his head into my neck, leaving small kisses. "Stop." I whined playfully as he pushed himself up onto me and kissed my lips, pushing me backwards with our lips still attached. "Mitch." I spoke nervously as he climbed on top of me while I now laid my back onto the carpet. "Let me hit that shit, ma." He spoke softly into my ear as he continued leaving kisses on my neck. "Mitch, we cant. My mom will be home from work soon." I expressed to him but he ran his hands up my school skirt anyway. "Stop bitchin'." "Let me finally pop that cherry, Z." He spoke, putting his lips on mine as he slowly moved my underwear aside and rubbed his fingers against my Girl. "Mm." I moaned, unfamiliar with this feeling but it felt great. And though I knew my mother would be here soon, I no longer wanted to stop. He continued rubbing it as I laid there, looking up into his eyes. As I did, he smirked down at me and I smiled small, rubbing a hand down his cheek. I was so in love with this boy.

"Mama, I can't just leave Abir." I admitted, telling her exactly why I couldn't do this. Not only would she be snatching me away from my family and friends but she was taking me away from the person I'd loved for five going on six years. I couldn't just walk away from him. "Baby.." She trailed off, sighing deeply. "I know you love Abir." She stood to her feet to stop packing for a moment and pulled me into her. "But I promise you, there will be other boys. Right now you have to do what's best for you and that's coming with your daddy and I to give you a better life." "Better life for who? You?!" I screamed out, becoming even more angry at her choice of words. As if my feelings were robotic and I could just turn them on and off for any and every person. "My feelings just don't matter to y'all at all, huh?" I asked, crying harder than before now. "Speak to your mother with some respect, Giselle." My father spat to me and I shook my head, watching as they stood there looking at me like some dumb teenager. This wasn't puppy love for me. I didn't spend 5 years building something, just to walk away from it for their dreams. I couldn't do it. Sinner. Book #1