Previously
We looked at each other for a while.
"You have a really beautiful smile" Zaylani said at the same time that I said, "Your smile is f'real so gorgeous."
We looked at each other sheepishly before saying "Thank you," again in unison.
The way this girl makes my heart flutter is terrifying.
Zaylani's POV
Me and Nique spoke about a bunch of random shit while we waited for our food to arrive. The way she makes me feel is exhilarating. We have so much in common yet we're so different from each other. I don't know how or why she's even still messing with me. This has to be too good to be true.
"Hey, Nique?" I call and she looks at me.
"Why didn't you leave me be once I told you about my past?" I ask.
Nique furrowed her brows as a confused look develops on her face.
I sighed.
This is probably where I fuck things up.
"What?" She questions.
"What do you mean what? It's a simple question." I respond and she leans back in her chair.
"..Well you didn't give me a reason to leave you alone. You asked me that as if you did something terrible in your past." She says, speaking as if walking on eggshells.
"Yeah, but most people would leave after finding out something like that." I say.
Nique seemed to be getting irritated. Not at me specifically, but at what I said.
"Yeah well most people are fucking stupid Zaylani. You were abused and you're still healing. You have yet to give me a reason to leave so I haven't, like I just said." She responds.
I can tell she's confused at the sudden inquiry.
"And what if I do?" I ask quietly.
Nique tilts her head with a confused expression on her face.
"What if you do what?" She asks.
I stare at my lap.
"What if I do give you a reason to leave?" I mumble.
She was silent for a bit so I look up from my lap hesitantly.
She's looking at me like I'm crazy.
"Why are you looking at me like something's wrong with me? I just asked a question." I pressed on.
"Zaylani, what are you trying to get at? I don't understand..everything was fine a minute ago.." Nique trails off.
I hear a slight panic in her voice, and I see it on her face too.
I feel so bad, why am I doing this?
I sigh and bury my face in my hands.
"Fuck, I'm sorry. I always do this. I always find a way to fuck things up when I think something is too good to be true." I say.
Nique removes my hands from my face & takes them into her own, rubbing them with her thumbs, sending butterflies fluttering in my stomach.
"I'm not going anywhere ma. You've been through some shit and you're still healing from it. I'm not gonna let you do this shit alone." She says gently.
She stared into my eyes as she spoke, letting me know she means every word she said.
I smile a little.
"I'm hard to deal with though.." I say, hesitantly.
She chuckles and squeezes my hands.
"You think I don't already know that? Zaylani I don't care how hard you are to deal with, I'm not going anywhere regardless. That's something you will never have to worry about with me. Aight?"
"And I know it may be a little soon for me to be saying shit like that, but I really mean every word." She adds on.
I cheese and she kisses both of my hands.
"I really hit the jackpot with you, huh?" I say and a cocky smile envelops on her face.
"Shit I mean, what can I say?" Nique says, leaning back in her seat.
We both laugh.
The rest of the date went by smoothly. We talked and laughed for the rest of the time before heading back to campus.
At Campus
Nique and I stood outside of my..well, our dorm rooms, saying our goodbyes.
"Hey, Zaylani?" She says.
"Yeah?" I responded, looking up at her.
"I had an amazing time with you tonight." She says with a charming smile.
I smile.
"I did too." I respond.
"Also, I know how you are so please don't beat yourself up about what happened, okay?" Nique says with reassuring eyes.
I nodded.
"I won't. Thank you for the reassurance. I needed it." I reply honestly.
I most definitely would have felt terrible about that for days to come.
We smile at each other for a while before she starts to fidget, looking like a nervous wreck.
"Can I kiss you?" She blurts out suddenly.
I was taken by surprise, causing me to pause for a moment.
"Fuck, my bad if I overstepp-" she starts, but I'm not having it.
"Of course you can." I interrupt.
"Are you sure? I don't want you t-"
Before she could finish her sentence, I pulled her down to me by her collar before placing a soft kiss on her lips.
She looked taken aback and I smiled as I watched a blush start developing on her cheeks.
The expression fades as quickly as it appeared as she kissed me back.
I close my eyes.
Everything about this kiss feels so..right.
I wrap my arms around her neck, pulling her closer to me as one of her hands move down to my butt.
The kiss started getting more heated as Nique slips her tongue into my mouth, causing me to let out a small sound.
I felt her smirk against my lips as she moved her other hand down to my butt.
I pulled away, my breathing slightly heavy and she looked at me.
There was a light blush on her cheeks again.
"You're a really good kisser." I say candidly.
She rubs her neck sheepishly with a nervous smile.
"You was practicing on your pillow or what?" I say and she laughs.
"Nah. I just got it like th-" she started.
"How cute." I hear an unfamiliar voice say, causing me to turn in the direction of the voice.
Standing in the doorway of Nique's dorm is a pretty Indian girl. She's wearing a worn out graphic tee, gray sweats & Birkenstock sandals with socks.
Must be her roommate.
Nique already looks irritated.
"Meera, do you need something?" She asks, clearly trying to mask her irritation.
"Nah. I was just going to take a late night stroll but..I was graced by this..spectacle." Meera responds.
Nique scoffs.
"Tsk. Go take your walk Meera." She says, brushing her off.
"And miss this? Are you crazy?" Meera responds with a laugh.
My face contorted into an expression of confusion.
Meera looked at me, seemingly analyzing me.
"You're pretty." She says after a couple seconds, tilting her head.
I smile. How sweet. Is this really the same girl that was giving Nique a hard time?
Maybe she was just having a bad day.
"Aw, thank you! You too." I respond.
She shoots me a closed smile that doesn't reach her eyes, making me ponder how genuine she was really being.
"It's a shame, really." She continues and I shoot her a confused look.
"Your girlfriend has such an angry aura. I hate that for you." She says bitterly.
Ah. So she really is just a bitch.
"Excuse me?" I retort, turning my head to the side as I give her a look.
"Ignore her, ma. She's trippin'." Nique says, looking down at me.
The girl scoffed.
"So you didn't go off on me for no reason before you left?" She says, narrowing her eyes at Nique.
"I didn't 'go off on you' for no reason. I checked you because you were in my business just like you are now." Nique responds calmly.
"Not to mention you called Zaylani out her name." Nique says and I damn near snap my neck to look at her.
"She what?" I said.
Who do bitches be thinking they are?
"You thought I was playing when I said she was off her rocker?" She responds.
I knew Nique said she was a bit odd, but this?
"Yeah..sorry about that babe." Meera said sarcastically.
"No I'm sorry." I say to her, my facial expression feigning sincerity.
Both Meera and Nique look at me confused.
"Zaylani you don't hav-" Nique starts, but I put my hand up, stopping her from finishing.
"I'm sorry that you're so bitter that you seem to be having genuine fun worrying about strangers' endeavors." I deadpan.
She looks taken aback and Nique only stares at me.
"Pro tip: no one is going to reciprocate feelings for you if all you do is nag them and the people around them." I say.
Meera looks extremely embarrassed.
"Who said I had fee-" She starts, but I cut her off, turning to Nique.
"Nique?" I call, looking up at her.
She looks down into my eyes with a look in her eyes that sends shivers down my spine.
"Hm?" She responds.
"Sleep in my dorm tonight." I say.
"Oh please. I've had enough of this." Meera says before going back into their dorm, slamming the door behind her.
We both ignore her.
"I don't know if that's a good idea.." Nique responds.
"Please? I just..I don't want this night to end.." I admit quietly.
She sighs.
"Fine.." She says reluctantly.
''Let me just shower and change into something comfortable, aight?" She continues and I nod.
"Same. See you in about 30 minutes?" I ask.
"Yeah." Nique responds.
She then kisses my cheek before we head into our dorms.
Heyyy..how y'all doinnnn😻😻..
Well...SURPRISEEEE!!!!!😹😹 I'm back & tf better I swear!! Happy Thanksgiving, Halloween, Easter, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Black History Month, allat!!!😭 I missed y'all soooo much but I really needed a hiatus. I been gone for damn near a year, & I didn't even realize it was that long fr. This book hasn't been updated for a year either chile & I'm so sorry. I been seeing y'all's comments & feeling so bad that I just left y'all like that. However in the time I've been gone, my writing has greatly improved amongst other things in my personal life. I'll definitely be showcasing that as I continue writing my book/books! I really hope y'all understand, but stay tuned for updates & better writing!😋 Now, granted I'm busy as hell, updates will most likely not be consistent (no I'm not gon take a year to update again🧘🏾), but this book WILL BE CONTINUED because I'm sure some of y'all thought I was just not gon come back💀. But enough of allat, I love all of you so so so much & I'm extremely excited to be back & be able to interact with y'all funny asses again.
Kisses!!!!💋
Published on 3/15/23