"I'll play you." Kross challenged with a serious expression on his face, smoothly twirling the basketball on his pointer finger. "For what?" Amiko sighed heavily, a bored look on her face, crossing her arms over her chest, tapping her foot repeatedly on the ground. "𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭."

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝.. 𝐄𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐘𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐲𝐫𝐢𝐚 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐭 𝐇𝐲𝐝𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐀𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐲. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐣𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬. 𝐒𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞...

She's used to being alone-no love, no drama, just her peace. But then he comes along, moving different, making her feel things she ain't never felt before. Some love ain't meant to be rushed. It's built to last.

Fresh out of prison, Dayvon has nothing-and no one to trust. Amani is the one person who might change that. The calm in the chaos of his life. But past mistakes, danger, and rising fame won't let him have peace easily. In a world that's always ready to break them, can they hold on to what really matters?

Jasani Bennett has lost everything - his baby mama to an overdose, his faith in women, and now his home. All he has left is his four-year-old son, Sincere, and the cold streets of Chicago in December. When the snow turns to freezing rain, Von's pride nearly costs them shelter until Jailyn Wilson, a stylist stuck in Chicago for the holidays, sees them outside as she's driving back to her Airbnb. Against her better judgment, she lets them in for the night. What was supposed to be one night turns into days as Jasani struggles with his trust issues and Jailyn struggles with her loneliness. The tension builds as she teaches Sincere the joy of Christmas while slowly breaking through Jasani's walls. But the question is - will Von let go of his pain and accept that maybe, Christmas didn't just come to Chicago, it came to save him?

Asiyah is an interviewer who shines a light on the streets, but her latest subject-a rising rapper-brings more than just fame. As she navigates the complexities of her family's dark secrets, faces her father's disapproval, and becomes entangled in a dangerous romance, Asiyah must decide if chasing her dreams is worth the risk of losing everything. Cover by: @wordsbykay

"𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭. 𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐚 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐚 𝐟𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐮𝐩. 𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝?" 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐞𝐲𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐭. 𝐈 𝐧𝐨𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐲. "𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐭" 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐤 𝐚 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐦 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐩. •𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 #𝟏•

𝐎𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐢𝐧'𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐃𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐚𝐥𝐬..

"𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝐼 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝒾𝓈... 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝐼 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝒾𝓈... 𝐿𝑜𝓎𝒶𝓁𝓉𝓎. 𝐿𝑜𝓎𝒶𝓁𝓉𝓎. 𝐿𝑜𝓎𝒶𝓁𝓉𝓎!!"

𝗗𝗼𝗻𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗹𝗮𝗴𝘀... 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗳 𝗶 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗹𝗮𝗴𝘀?