More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
“A mutt, huh?” Bash smiled. “I used to have a ginger guy named Channel Orange.” “For the Frank Ocean album? A cat with taste.” “Yeah, he was my little buddy. But then he got his head stuck in a Doritos bag and suffocated.”
“Maybe. But also, I really want to hear your speech. You need someone to be proud of you. I’ll be proud.”
Everyone else in her life needed something from her. It was too lame to say out loud, but Bash didn’t even want payment for his services. How could she not have feelings for him, even the smallest, tiniest ones, after he traveled over two hours to the beach and back, and smuggled her phone through Barry?
I need you to stop saying that word, he thought, because I picture what it’s for, and I’m not chill enough to associate YOU… with… THAT… and act normal. It’s hard enough pretending that everything about you doesn’t throw me off! Your brain, your perfume, your bravery, even your arrogance. Especially your arrogance. And your crazy-beautiful skin and lashes and dimples that all blur together into an explosion of cute every time you smile. You have to stop saying it, because I’m just a guy, and my poker face is trash, and you’re fucking up my brain… and I momentarily forget that I shouldn’t be
...more
Bash raised his brows, scratching the back of his neck. “It’s just that… what if the guy doesn’t know what he’s doing? If you have dildo experience, you could… you know, guide him.”
She was too far away to hear what Audre and Bash were saying, but their body language (and the sex toys) spoke loud enough. And she was outraged.
There’s always some girl, thought Audre. Maybe I’m just some girl, too.
Eva had wanted a gown by a Black designer (Amsale Aberra was Ethiopian American).
“Mom, have you been drinking?” “That’s between me and the Holy Trinity.” “Which Holy Trinity? Tequila, lime, and ice?” “The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit!” snapped Grandma Lizette.
“Right,” she said, her voice unsteady. “If I get stuck, I’ll just tell everyone you have a third nipple.” “Okay, chin-tooth,” he said with sparkling eyes. “Come on, let’s get you into trouble.”
He never finished. Bash, in a white-hot rage, reared back and punched him in the jaw—putting all one-hundred-and-ninety pounds of lean, powerful muscle behind it.
Later, they wouldn’t be able to remember who reached for who first. But they collided into each other, locking into an all-consuming embrace. It wasn’t careful, polite, or unsure. It was certain. The entire length of their bodies were pressed against each other’s. And still, it didn’t feel close enough.
“But why would you assume the worst? Yes, Bash got in a fight tonight. But he was fighting for me. To defend me.” Shane groaned, dropping his face in his hand. Eva sighed with her entire body. “Defend you from what, exactly?”
I spent a night in jail, and to this day a confused white man is walking the earth wondering why a gas station attendant tackled him in ’05.” He paused. “Keep it a buck, that part I don’t care as much about.”
And Bash did it for her. She couldn’t pretend that it didn’t make her melt. No one had ever fought for her before. She didn’t even know she was the kind of girl who could inspire a guy to take such action.
“You don’t understand what I’m saying. I can’t just be friends with you. I can’t kiss you without wanting to do it all the time. I can’t talk to you without wanting you forever. And if I hurt you, I’d never forgive myself. That’s why I need to go.” The connection went dead.
“The thing is, nothing I do could ever be scarier than who she is.” “Maybe that’s why she was hard on you. To keep you from making the same mistakes.”
“Do you think you sensed she was hiding something? Maybe that’s why you’re so interested in psychology? You want to fix everyone, because your family was a puzzle you couldn’t solve.”
Did you read my manuscript?
“But Audre doesn’t have any kinks,” protested Reshma. Audre glared at her best friend.
“Also, I’m not a lesbian. I’m bisexy.”
Hours later, his skin still smarted where she had pecked him. He felt the burn of it, just as vividly as if he’d been kissed by fire.
According to a 2017 study, mathematicians found that, on any given day, only one in 562 people has the chance of finding love.
Oh, and speaking of excellence? She named us after the most important Black female writers in history. I’m Audre Zora Maya Toni—for Audre Lorde, Zora Neale Hurston, Maya Angelou, and Toni Morrison. You’re Alice Maya Octavia—for Alice Walker, Maya Angelou, and Octavia Butler. She set the bar too high for us from the day we were born.
How can I say that I’ve accepted my past if I’m so haunted by it that I’m keeping you from enjoying your present? Bash isn’t Shane, and you aren’t me. It’s a dangerous game, making you two pay for crimes Shane and I committed a thousand years ago.”
Tell the most important person in my life how I feel about her. Bash folded the paper up and slid it back into his pocket. He bit his bottom lip, trying to hold back a smile. “Come here.”
“How do you feel about the most important person in your life?” she whispered. Bash brushed his nose against hers and said, “I love you, A.” “I love you, too, B.”
With that, it was official. Bash and Audre were definitely, absolutely, not just friends.
