AnnBliss_
Ecstasy Ky'elle Lamont has spent her whole life learning how to survive without anybody to lean on.
Named after the drug her mother was high on when she gave birth to her, Ecstasy grew up in the system and learned early that love doesn't always come with a last name. Now twenty-seven, she's built a life completely on her own terms. By day, she's a homebody who loves to cook, shop, read, and keep her shit together. By night, she's one of the hottest exotic dancers in the city, making money off the body everybody wants but nobody gets to own.
But dancing ain't her dream.
Singing is.
Then there's Desean "Hands" East.
At thirty-two, Hands is known throughout the hood for two things: his fists and his hustle. Raised by his grandparents alongside five younger siblings, he's street-smart, calculated, and dangerous when pushed. Boxing is his real shot at changing his life, but until that dream pays off, the streets are funding his future.
Fast cars. Fast money. Fast women.
That's his lifestyle.
Until Ecstasy.
The first time they meet, they damn near can't stand each other. Her smart mouth gets under his skin, and his arrogant ass gets on her nerves. But the more they run into each other, the harder it becomes to ignore the tension between them.
What starts with arguments turns into flirting.
Flirting turns into dates.
And dates turn into something neither of them expected.
Because once Hands gets a taste of Ecstasy, one night isn't enough.
She becomes his favorite distraction. His weakness. His peace. His temptation.
His addiction.
But the streets don't care about love stories, and neither do the secrets they're both carrying.
With money, loyalty, family, ambition, betrayal, and desire standing between them, Ecstasy and Hands are about to learn that the sweetest addictions can also be the hardest ones to survive.
Everybody has their vice.
For Desean, his just happens to be Ecstasy.