"𝙈𝙮 𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙮 𝙞𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙮 & 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙮 𝙞𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙮 𝙢𝙖𝙢𝙞. (Characters in story are not the characters on cover)

Asha Mitchell is all about her education and the next box to check off her list of goals. She never allows anyone to steer her from her path or take her eyes off the prize. She's a big time lover who also knows how to choose herself or play the game if she feels it's necessary. But she rather not. She admires love and wants everything it has to offer if she can. Some of the best relationships are built on friendship, and Asha doesn't realize that until Sanchez Harmon. He's goal oriented and doesn't have time for games. He knows what he wants for all aspects of his life - except his love life. Relationships aren't his strong suit because he's never been in one and never wanted one. Romantic love is a fantasy to him; nice to watch but unrealistic. A few things come to light when the two become friends after a homecoming party. One is an open-hearted lover and the other can't see himself in love. They love different but they'll try to figure out which way is best for them.

"I made the decision to cheat on my wife because I liked the way you made me feel vulnerable and comfortable enough to open up to you the night before it happened. I ain't never did shit like that before and that's what made it easy for me to choose to risk everything I got for you." "That shit probably not a big deal to you but a nigga like me ain't never opened up to nobody but my best friend-and still..that's rare. I hate even talking about her with you but I don't even feel comfortable talking to Ariana about my feelings 'cause I know she gon' judge me. You don't make me feel like that."

"Please Jesus, free me of the spirit of lust." "I know that relationships built under your word can last forever. So free me of the thought, free me of the feeling and free me from my flesh trying to cloud my judgement." "I don't worship lust, sex or desire. I worship you Jesus, please don't allow me to lose sight of that." "In Jesus name, I pray." "Amen." I spoke desperately as I stood up from my knees.

"You know how special you gotta be to change a nigga like me? Huh?" He tilted her head back to make her look at him, and a faint smile grew on her face as he wiped her cheeks. "My own grandparents couldn't do it for me and I loved them more than anything. You the one for me ma. That's why I ain't told you everything yet 'cause I don't wanna run you away. I need you." He laid his forehead against hers, gently kissing her lips. "Nobody will ever believe that King Von from O Block be crying to me like this." She smiled as she gazed into his red eyes, and he chuckled, nodding in agreement. "I ain't King Von wit' you. Just love." He kissed her cheek next, and her smile grew as her arms tightened around him for a warm hug.

Every time Isaiah looked at himself in the mirror, he was constantly reminded of the most traumatic moment of his life. He grew to hate himself until Namiko randomly waltzed into his life one day and began teaching him how to love himself again. It was as if she was his second chance. He'd been so pissed off all night to the point where he was physically shaking like a ticking bomb. This one hug from her felt like the rainbow after a severe thunderstorm. He couldn't believe that his sanity really depended on her. He'd never reached this point of love before. She brought him so much peace. That's why he loved her the way that he did; the reason why he couldn't stand to spend a single second away from her and why he depended on her to keep him sane. She was just it; like a breath of fresh air. He never expected the woman that ended up stealing his heart would be a real life Disney Princess wandering cluelessly around New York City; an autistic one, at that.

𝘀𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗵 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗻 noun : a state of extreme joy. she was in 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯 ever since she met him.

𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦..

love, obsession & deceit. saint, psalm & kataya

"You can't see the future. I might have a chance. You don't know for sure." He mumbled, making her expression soften. "M-my mom used to tell me t-that birds still sing even after a storm. Why shouldn't people feel as free t-to delight in whatever sunlight remains to them?" Samir stopped talking for a moment to regather himself so that he didn't stutter, but Nina froze completely. "You don't have to settle with him Nina. It's been five years an-and you're not a-as happy as you should be. You smile differently with me.. and you cry a lot with him. I just think that you deserve to enjoy your time with someone other than h-him for a minute because there's still sunlight out there for you too, even if you can't see it yet." How did he become her source of 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞 so 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐥𝐲? A short story.