Chapter 13 Syncere POV: Monday 10pm “Damn I still can’t believe Essence is tutoring you. You’re lucky because it could have been somebody that you couldn’t get along with.” Shawn said as he passed me a beer. We were watching a game on TV, when I told him about Essence being my tutor this semester. “She was skeptical at first, she didn’t want to have any run-ins with jazz and Leah, because of how they acted when they met them. Which didn’t end well, but I told her Jazz was cool and she didn’t have to worry about her because she knows my situation. Jazz knows what I need to do to keep my full ride and get drafted, so she won't fuck it up for me.” I said, taking a swag of my beer. “Ha, do you really believe that about jazz? You know damn well Jazz is going to flip the fuck out, when she finds out. Like you said they already had a run-in with them, so she is going to make you find another tutor.” Shawn says seriously. “I’m not doing that, Essie knows what she’s do
Chapter 14Essence POV: 6:20 p.m. Looking at the time I still had ten to fifteen minutes before Syncere got here, he may be late just like he was yesterday. I thought to myself smiling at the memory on us debating, on whether he was late or not. Luckily I found a parking spot that was close to the entrance, “it must be my lucky day, boom!” I said to myself. Now if I can order me a quick bite without having to stand in line than that would be awesome. Walking into the Pit looking around there were only like three people waiting so that wasn’t so bad I would just get a cold cut hoagie and a drink. Placing my order I turn around trying to see if the table in the back was empty, because it was less noisy in the back. “Damnit,” I whispered, rolling my eyes. Well, so much for my lucky day, that shit didn't even last twenty minutes. I swear lady luck, be iffy as hell. She gives you luck, then crushes your dreams, all in less than fifteen minutes . I said to myself, beca
Chapter 15Syncere POV: 6:58pm Damn I know Essence is Big mad, but I couldn’t help it, my car wouldn’t start. I must have left my lights on last night, and me neither Shawn had booster cables. Shawn couldn’t drop me off because he had a date. So, I finally get my neighbor to give me a boost and now I’m twenty-five minutes late. Opening the door to The Pit, I looked at the table we were at yesterday to see if she was still at the same table, but she wasn't. I frowned, looking around, and realized that she wasn’t there. Still looking around thinking I must have just looked over her because she was super short, but she wasn’t at any of the tables. Why would she leave? I know I was late, but I think she would have at least waited, maybe something similar had happened to her. Pulling out my cell, I scroll until I find her number, but before I could hit the dial button. Jazz came over to me and jumped in my arms wrapping herself around me. I looked at her wondering why she was ev
Chapter 16Syncere's POV: Continued “Jazz, I told you how important this was to me. But all you can think about is yourself, not to mention not liking a girl that has done nothing to you. I have to go and fix this shit, before it gets back to the coach that I dropped a tutor that he helped me get. You better hope I can fix this Jazz, you were out of line. Look I’ll hit you up later.” I said, getting up to leave. Jazz grabbed me by the arm. “I’m sorry I just don’t trust that girl, I didn’t think it would matter who tutored you as long as you had one. As for the money, I would have helped you cover it. Why don’t you just call your coach and tell him you got somebody who is better and smarter than that girl, Tracy has a three point five gpa.” Jazz said, trying to get me to see things her way. “Jazz I’m not going to do that. I will not be paying somebody one hundred seventy-five a week when I have a tutor that I pay zero dollars to. You have no excuse, Jazz;
Chapter 17Essence POV: “What the hell is going on? Why is Syncere in my apartment.” I said to myself. I will be calling Kiki as soon as Syncere leaves. I had some fresh cuss words just for her ass. She called me right before Syncere knocked on my door, so I didn't have time to cuss her ass out, but I will make sure I call her ass when Syncere leaves. But somehow, he talked his way into my apartment, wanting to talk so here we are. "So, what's up? Like I said you got five minutes and it started when you walked in. I'm still not understanding the pop-up. I already said I wasn't mad, we’re cool. So, I'm not sure what else we need to talk about. I hope like hell your crazy girlfriend and her sidekick didn't follow you, because I promise it will not end well if they came to my door." I said, shaking my head, because I didn't feel like going to the Florida jail house tonight. Hell, I didn’t want to go to no jail house for that matter. But that's where I would end up
Chapter 18Essence's POV: Continued "Well, I will let you get back to whatever you were doing when I came. Again, I'm sorry about earlier and I will see you tomorrow at the pit at six thirty sharp." He said finishing the rest of his water. "I told you we're cool I wasn't upset, I felt like you didn't take me seriously about that no drama, but we will see how this plays out." "Okay so I'll see you tomorrow. He said opening the door, he turned around and smile. "Can I get a hug I want to make sure you're not mad and I promise I will make sure we can work in peace." "Seriously, you’re gonna need more than a hug to perform that miracle." I said with a laugh. "Whatever, come here and hug me girl." Syncere said pulling me into a bear hug that lasted longer than the average. "You can let me go anytime now" I said getting a little light-headed because his smell was hypnotic and enticing. He had his head buried in my neck; he waited another few long ass seconds bef
Chapter 19 Syncere’s POV: continued. After my shower I was still in deep thought about everything Shawn said. He headed to the kitchen to get a bottle of water. I didn’t even notice Shawn was sitting at the table eating a bowl of cereal. “I see you’re still thinking about what I said, about your girl’s future plans after graduation? Don’t even hurt yourself. How about the next time yall talk just bring it up. When we first met them they wanted to be paralegals at a law firm in New York. So just find out if she has been trying to at least start interning or anything. We already know she didn't intern this summer because she wanted to be with you.” Shawn said as matter of fact. I have been so focus on getting better stats this season, that I didn’t think anything of the fact that Jazz only went home for a week this summer. I pop the cap of my water and down it quickly before grabbing another one. I walked to my room not even responding to what Shawn was saying. I will
Chapter 20 Essence’s POV:Wednesday 6:05pm “Kiki, I hate you so much right now . That last set of planks right after doing six inches damn near had my legs and stomach planning to kill me in my sleep. I’m going to be so stiff in the morning I’m so tired I want to go to sleep, but I have to tutor Syncere then afterwards I am going to hit that bed so hard it might be a crime.” I told Kymoni as we finished up changing out of our workout clothes. “Hey, you don’t think I’m hurting my damn self but we just got to keep doing it keep grinding.” Kiki said, as we both laughed. “Yea I know but I still hate your guts. I know I’m going to be walking like somebody grandma tomorrow.” I said, still laughing as we walked out of the changing room. I smiled because ever since he left my housed last night he has been texting me some random ass silly text that he thought was funny. I knew he was making sure I hadn’t changed my mind again about tutoring him. “What the hell are you
Jazz's Dorm: ContinuedSyncere and Jazz: Jazz smiled and snuggled into him, she hoped that once he forgave her about earlier, maybe she could convince him to stay or take her to his place. She had loved living with him while she recovered from her accident, it felt like they were already married. She knew she had to do damage control, it would be best if she spoke first. Syncere sat at her desk chair and not next to her, that made her frown and become even more nervous. “Baby, I want to apologize for telling everyone about our engagement. I know we promised that we would only tell everyone once we graduated, but with the shooting it was like my life flashed before my eyes. Either one of us could have died and no one would know that we were engage. No one would know that we loved each other so much that we had taken the steps towards solidifying our relationship, by getting engaged. We knew we were it, for each other, that we were soulmates.” “Jazz, please just stop, I came
Outside Jazz's Dorm:Syncere: Syncere sat in his truck as he tried to gather his thoughts on everything he wanted to say to Jazz. He knew that what he was about to do will hurt her, which is the last thing he wanted to do to her. They had been through hell and back and stuck together, he would be lying if he said he didn't love her. But the truth is, it wasn't the kind of love that went with being in love with someone. He had to face the truth that he and Jazz formed a trauma bond because of the loss of their baby. He was going to try and do this with as much patience and understanding that she will be hurt and grieving all over again. He also admitted to himself that she wouldn't be the only one feeling the pain of their breakup. He knew Essence was right that he would need time to get himself mentally together before he could step to her. A knock on his truck window scared the shit out of him. “Damn Shawn what the hell man, I almost had a heart attack, w
Leah's RoomShawn and Leah: `` Shawn stormed into Leah's room, it was completely dark, he felt around for the light switch. When he finally found it, he spotted Leah laying on the floor flat on her back. Her night gown was up around her waist, blood was seeping through the top of her shirt. “I'm so sorry Shawn, I didn't want to call the ambulance because they would call my parents. I just need to get to the bathroom and check my wound. Then you can go back to whatever you were doing.” Leah said as she cried. “Damn it Leah, why the hell are you trying to do this shit by yourself. You're going to mess around and end up in the hospital with some kind of infection.” Shawn said picking her up, taking her to the bed, he ran to the bathroom and got a wet cloth and a fresh towel. When he got back to the room, he stopped in his tracks seeing Leah with her shirt lifted revealing her breast. He was just now noticing that she was completely naked underneath her gown. Alt
Leah's Dorm Room:Leah and Shawn: “I'm sorry Shawn I told my roommate not to call you, I am trying to do this on my own. My parents would make me leave school if they found out that you had to come all the way over here because I fell in the bathroom. I don't know what happened I was trying by best not to wet my wound, that I didn't see my body wash was leaking on the floor, and the next thing I know I slipped. I didn't think it would be this hard, then I have this ugly scar from the operation, everything is just so messed up.” Leah said crying as Shawn stepped into the shower, getting wet as he turned the shower off and picked Leah up off the floor. his hair and clothes were now wet from the shower and Leah’s wet body. He quickly grabbed her towel and wrapped it around her and walked out of the community bathroom. “You got shot a few days ago and had major surgery, and you left the hospital against the doctor's orders. He told you that you can't do this
Chapter 108The Cleanup:Essence's apartment: “What type of cockamamie stuff was that? I have never seen such shameless young ladies like that before. The fact that their mothers just stood there and allowed their daughters to come into this house and disrespect the owner, that's the devils work right there. I'm glad I live in a town where we know better than to disrespect a person in their home, because that's the fastest way to get a buck shot to the ass.” Momma Nelson said putting her jacket on as Kiki's dad carried their luggage to the rental car, they had to catch their flight back to South Carolina. After everyone left, they put the food in the freezer and clean the house. Unique had stayed around trying to get some alone time with Essence, but Momma Nelson always found something for him to do. After about an hour, Anthony said they had to leave because Sundays were early nights for the football team. “Momma, ever since I been here, I have seen and hea
Chapter 107If what could possibly go wrong was a person: Syncere was pissed, what the fuck was Jazz thinking. He couldn't believe that she would bring that shit up without talking to him first and what would possess her to do this shit at Essence's house. “Baby, I know it's a surprise, but I couldn't hold it in any longer. This is a new start for me; getting shot really made me put everything in perspective for me. I don't want to keep secrets from our family anymore. I hope you're not upset with me.” Jazz said crying when she saw Syncere was staring at Essence. “Hold on, I don't care about none of the crap you just said, who the hell gave you, my address? I didn't invite you and yes me and you don't get along so you knowing my address is a problem especially if it was given without my permission. Sorry for cussing momma.” Essence said interrupting the congratulations party. Her momma looked at her and saw her feelings were threatening to come out so s
Chapter 106Sunday Dinner: ContinuedThe Living room: “Jazz, Leah, what the hell are you doing out of the hospital?” Syncere said, with Shawn right behind him. “The real question is how the hel.. I mean how they found out where I live?” Essence said coming to the door also. “Can we please come inside it is a little chilly out here and we can explain why we're here.” Jazz's mother said as she covered her daughter with a blanket. Momma Nelson looked at the weak girls and decided she wouldn't let those girls’ actions send her to hell. She was a caring person by nature and their actions wouldn't change or stop her from doing what's right even, if she isn't fond of them. “You can come in and say what you have to say and leave, and I will tell you the first disrespectful thing that comes out of your mouth will have my foot in your mouths and a belt across your asses even with bullet wounds. You don't believe me try me and find out.” Momma Nelson said as she stepped
Chapter 105Sunday Dinner: The Living room: “Before we eat, I want to welcome all our guest, I am so glad to have met everyone of yall even though it started off on the wrong foot for some of us. Mr. Jamison, I heard it is your birthday and this feast is in honor of you and the fact that you have never had Southern food before, which is a crying shame. But we are about to fix your problem, I must tell you that I am not responsible for any addiction that my food may cause you.” Momma Nelson said with a smile that made Syncere’s mother frown and had Kiki and Essence looking at each other oddly. “Please call me Thomas, and I would like to thank you for this wonderful meal. This is by far the best gift I have ever gotten, and I will walk into this addiction happily with no regrets.” Mr. Jamison said smiling like a fool. “Uh, how about let's say grace so we can eat because I don't know what is happening.” Essence said as Kiki's father said a prayer. Essence and her mother
Chapter 104Sunday Dinner:Essence's Bedroom:Syncere and Essence: He had only seen the bruises on her face when they were at the hospital. “I didn't say anything because I didn't want my mother and brothers to worry, and it's none of your business. You made it clear where your concerns lie, so stick with that and leave me alone.” Essence said, knocking Syncere's hand away from her, his touch made her skin burn and her body crave him. Syncere looked at Essence as she headed back into her closet. If she thought she would get away with what she said just now, she made a big fucking mistake. He thought as he went to her door and locked it, before storming into the closet to confront Essence. Syncere stormed into the closet as Essence was on her tip toes trying to reach the top shelf. She hissed again when she tried to do a little jump to reach it. Syncere reached above her easily and grabbed the tablecloth, and walked out of the closet. Essence followed with an atti