Even though I don't look up right away, I feel him. His presence shifts the air, makes it heavier, like the sky right before a storm. A shiver runs down my spine, but I shake it off. I can sense he's here to handle our unfinished business, and I know he won't hold his tongue this time, not without our audience from earlier to keep him in check. "Why yuh really come back Jodie?" He's blunt, as always, and I can tell he's revving up for a fight. Him lucky. "I love Ms. Iva and I respect her for what she does, but dem neva send yuh gah school fi sell yam dung a market...Why'd you leave Kingston?" "I told you already, I'm using my PTO Knox" I dispose of the water into the grass, setting the wash basin up against the tank. He scoffs. "Liad, yuh done tell dah one deh already, betta yuh come up wid a next one." His eyes are daring, challenging me to come clean, but I can't. "Why you cyaa juss believe me? What's so suspicious about me needing time away from work?" I push past him, not yet ready to dive so deep into the unknown. He grabs my wrist, pulling me into his chest and trapping me there. The warmth of him seeps into me, setting off a fire under my skin. He doesn't ease up, but the pressure does something to me that I can't shake. I tell myself to take a step back, create some space, but I don't. I won't. "Because me know yuh, Jodie. Better than I know myself. I know you..." He presses his index fingers to his heart, his breath shallow as it cascades across my collarbone. "I thought we were better than this, I thought we could tell each other anything" I shake my head, my eyes closing as I inhale his scent, it's uniquely him. It's dangerous how familiar it is, how it makes my chest ache. I hate him for making me feel like this, I hate myself for wanting to be even closer than we are now.

A promise. It seems like the simplest thing in the world to keep. But so often, they're broken, empty and hollow. They seem like the easiest thing in the world to believe, but after the words are left out to bleed, after they leave you waiting and wanting, after all the emptiness and hollow words-how are you going to believe the one who actually say what they mean?

"She not like the others, Ma. She real." Phoenyx spoke with conviction. "She makes me feel-" "Like a bitch." Persephone cut in, raising off of the couch. "You lettin' her soften you up. I ain't raise you to be no simp." "Forreal, Ma?" Phoenyx felt the heat rising to his face, a mixture of embarrassment and anger. "Why can't you just let me have this?" "Have what?" Persephone scoffed. "This shit ain't you. You gon' start actin' like somebody's fuckin' husband now? You think love gon' save you in these streets?" • • • • • • 𝙰 𝚗𝚎𝚐𝚕𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚔 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚊 𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚎. ❤️‍🔥👻 𝙱𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝟹 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚅𝚊𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 (𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚗-𝚘𝚏𝚏)

He only offered silence and smooth turns. But somewhere between late-night pickups and quiet glances in the rearview, a young woman with big dreams finds herself falling for the last man anyone would expect.

Love built them. Danger surrounds them. Three years after choosing each other, Naiari and Zayvion are still holding it down and parenting a daughter who fights harder than most grown folks. But peace doesn't last long in their world. Old enemies resurface, new threats slip in unnoticed, and the past has a way of showing up uninvited. As the lines between loyalty and survival blur, Naiari starts to question how much more she's willing to sacrifice for love... and whether love alone is enough.

Kimberly sit pon di veranda, di night air cool and calm. Di stars dem a shine bright, and di moon cast a soft glow pon everything. Dante walk up to her slowly, di sound of him footsteps quiet as him approach. Him look at her, smile soft, and say, "Kim, yuh beautiful tonight." Kimberly raise up her head, look at him with a soft smile. "Yuh always know how fi mek mi feel special," she reply, voice gentle. Dante kneel down beside her, his hand reaching out to hold hers. "Mi nuh tek yuh for granted, Kim. Every moment mi spend wid yuh blessing," him whisper, his thumb gently brushing across her hand. "Mi waan yuh fi know seh mi care fi yuh deeply." Kimberly heart skip a beat, feeling di warmth of his words. She squeeze his hand back, her voice barely above a whisper. "Mi care fi yuh too, Dante. It feels good fi know someone understand mi like dis." Him lean in closer, their faces inches apart. Di night air shift, and di only sound is di beat of their hearts. "Yuh ready fi mek more memories with mi?" Dante ask, his eyes searching hers. "Mi always ready, Dante," Kimberly respond, voice steady, but her heart racing. In dat moment, time seem fi slow down as he lean in and kiss her softly, di kiss full of love and warmth. It wasn't just a kiss, but a promise - a promise of more moments together, of growing closer and finding peace in each other's arms.

✨ 𝐔𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐓𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 ✨ A man accused. A woman misunderstood. A love neither of them saw coming. People think having money means your life is perfect. That you've never struggled. Never had to fight for anything. But I know pressure. I know silence. I know what it means to build yourself in the dark. My name is 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐚 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐳-𝐑𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬. I'm 27, a surgeon at WestLake Premier Medical, and I come from wealth-but I'm not the girl who wants to be kept. I'm the woman who earns her place. Who dreams big, works harder, and builds the life she wants-one heartbeat at a time. Love? It's cute, but not on my to-do list. Then there's 𝐉𝐚𝐡𝐯𝐢𝐚𝐫 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐬𝐨𝐧. The media calls him a real estate mogul. The streets know him as the boy who went to prison for a crime he swears he didn't commit. Ten years behind bars stole more than his youth-it stole his faith in justice. 𝐖𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧'𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭. 𝐖𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧'𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬. He's dark, intense, and full of scars. I'm light, focused, and on a mission. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐞? 𝐇𝐞'𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐈'𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐢𝐟 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐈'𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟.

Sanshanai Iverson is a struggling third year student at the University of the West Indies with a bright future drowning in student loans since the passing of her mother during her first year. With no back up plan, piling debts and the determination to finish her degree Shanai takes to the darker side of life to finish what she started, no matter the cost. Jordan Michaelson is a fresh deportee turned Don as he takes the reins of his Uncle's underground arms and drugs business in a country he'd only visited four times in his life. He carries around with him the weight of confusion and anger after six out of his ten year prison sentence for crimes he didn't commit, and he's bitter and resentful for it. But fate has something more in store when Shanai's and Jordan's paths cross once again after their very short tryst as teenagers that neither could forget. Now both their worlds are spinning on their axis and Shanai just might've bitten off more than she can chew dancing with the devil at night.

feelin like ecstasy ...