A Real Kind Of Love | Cover & Sneak Peek
"Tell me you love me!” he said through gritted teeth. Avelyn gripped at her boyfriend’s, Dasiah, hands as they clutched her throat. Her breathing getting slower by the second.
“Da—” she tried to squeeze out his name but his grip tightened.
“Tell me! Fucking tell me you love me!”
Fire spilled from his eyes and Avelyn’s fingers turned a shade of red as she yanked at his hands. Please don’t do this. She was fading by the minute but she couldn’t tell him what he wanted to hear.
She loved no one.
Avelyn gasped for air as her eyes flew open. The arms around her body stiffened as her heart rate decreased.
“Babe, you okay?” Dasiah’s voice made her jump, but she nodded. He drew her to him and kissed her forehead.
“It was a bad dream,” she mumbled as reality set in and she found comforts in the same person that had been trying to kill her in her nightmare.
Another kiss found its way to her cheek. “Tell the big bad monsters I ain’t fucking with them over you.”
Avelyn snickered. “Shut up.” She pushed her body deeper into his and closed her eyes again.
Sleep didn’t come as her mind wondered to the dream she’d had every night from the moment Dasiah told her he loved her a week ago. He’d confessed his deepest emotion to her when he thought she was sleep but Avelyn heard him loud and clear and nothing in her had been the same.
Love was a game she didn’t play with anyone and Dasiah was no exception.
* * *
“Bae!” Dasiah yelled coming out of his bedroom to find Avelyn in the kitchen making his favorite breakfast dishes.
“Why are you yelling?” she asked chuckling as she peeked over her shoulder at him. He had on nothing but a towel and Avelyn eyes took him in like the meal he was. Dasiah Stokes was a sight with his deep dark cocoa colored skin, athletic body, and above average height. His full lips, pearly white teeth, and beard accentuated his piercing look.
“‘Cause it smells too damn good in here. I’ma have to go on trips more often if you gon’ throw down like this.”
“Boy please,” she said before focusing back on the pancakes. She flipped them and then turned the stove down when his arms wrapped around her midsection. He planted soft kisses against her neck before giving her a sloppy one on the cheek.
“You gon’ miss me?”
Avelyn swallowed hard. “What kind of question is that?” she asked moving from his grasp to the fridge. “Are you excited or nervous is the real question? Africa for three months… I’m so jealous.”
“You could have come with. I told you to apply.”
“Yeah… too late now. I’ll instead spend my summer getting coffee for some asshole or something,” she said referring to her internship for a new Web series.
“I doubt that. The series sounds dope as fuck and with you helping with production, it’ll be even better. Don’t go stressing about it either. I can’t hit you with some D over FaceTime.”
Avelyn rolled her eyes while laughing at him. He always had a way to get her smiling and laughing and that sent a ping of guilt through her body. “Sy you are a mess. Your parents need to get you checked.”
“They said I’m special.”
“They never lied.” He slapped her on the ass and she giggled.
“I can’t believe it’s our last day together until August but I’m excited. Not about these long ass flights though. Trash as fuck.”
“Yeah, you can have that,” she said as she cut up fruit. “But I’m sure you’ll have the time of your life and it’ll be such an experience.”
Dasiah nodded. “In the meantime, I’m trying to experience you at least ten more times before my flight.” His fingers ran down her spine making her teeth dig into her bottom lip as her vagina jumped.
Avelyn stared at the kitchen clock. “Um… you want me to live to see tomorrow or nah?”
Dasiah’s laugh echoed throughout the kitchen. “Aight… five will do. But finish this food woman so we can enjoy each other and you can help me finish packing.”
“Siah!” She set down the knife and turned towards him. “You said you were done.”
“Did I?” he balled up his face, and she snarled.
“I hate you.”
“Said no one ever,” he placed a kiss on her lips and she shook her head before his mouth met hers again.
Twelve hours later, Avelyn wished she hadn’t parked and walked him into the airport to say goodbye but here they stood outside the security checkpoint. The strings of her heart squeeze and her lungs weren’t getting enough air as they stared at each other.
“I need to go.” Dasiah checked his watch. “I’ll FaceTime you when I get to my layover.”
You won’t.
“I’ma really miss your annoying ass Jinx,” he said calling her his infamous nickname. The nickname he’d been calling her since they met when she was a freshman and he was a junior. Every time some kind of bad luck happened to one of her friends she was there. It was like she was the bad luck and Dasiah always clowned her about it and then dubbed her with the lovely nickname.
He pulled her into a hug and planted a kiss on her lips that went from innocent to a make-out session. Avelyn took him in like water on a scorching day in Dubai. When they pulled apart, she let him take a part of her with him. To remember her by because this was the end.
She cared about Dasiah and their time together had been couples goals but he woke her up last week when he let his truth slip.
“You ain’t gon’ say bye or tell me how much you’ll miss me?” He asked running his hands down her body until they settled on her waist.
“We — ”
“I’ve been struggling on telling you something,” he cut her off. “But this is the best time and probably the only time I’ll get the nerve.”
Please don’t say it again.
“I love you, Avelyn.” There it was. She suspected it was coming.
She dropped her head before holding it back up and letting her eyes meet his. “Dasiah…” She sucked in air. “Don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
“Love me.”
“Why not?” She pulled her head back. It was one thing that he loved her but it was another that he loved her after they’d only been together a short time. They had only passed their three month mark two weeks ago, and he’d already fallen. “Baby,” he continued, “I’ve never been one to front about what I want or who I love and that’s you. It happened quick, but that’s what it is and I thought you was feeling it too. Our vibe is crazy.”
Their vibe was magnetic, but that was where she drew the line. “Dasiah I think we should break up,” she blurted out the words and pushed her shoulders back and chest out. “You’re going to Africa for months, long distances have never been my thing and you’re moving — ”
“It’s the fucking summer Ave. Are you serious right now?” he based making Avelyn take a step back from him. They had a carefree relationship, and he’d never had the look on his face he had right now, ever. It frightened her.
“I’m sorry but — Yes.” She cut right to the chase and Dasiah cocked his head and contorted his face. “I don’t wanna do the whole long distance thing,” she said hoping to soften the blow. It sounded much better than ‘I don’t wanna be with you because you can’t control your feelings and keep them to yourself’.
“So you’re breaking up with me because I’m going to fucking volunteer in another country for the summer? You always been this damn selfish?”
Avelyn’s skin stood at attention as his veins stood out along his neck. His skin flushed. Flashbacks of her dream sent a shiver through her bones. “I don’t mean to hurt you but it’s for the best, okay?”
“Avelyn, tell me you’re fucking with me?”
“I’m not Dasiah. We’re done and I don’t go back on my word. This was supposed to be fun and you’ve let it get too serious.”
“It’s called being in a relationship,” he yelled. Avelyn shrank back before she ran her hands down her face and looked around at the people whose attention they were catching.
“Lower your damn voice before they don’t let you on the plane,” she reasoned.
Dasiah huffed. “Fuck you Avelyn. You got it though. I gotta go.”
He snatched his duffle bag off the ground before stomping towards the security line. Avelyn feet wouldn’t move as she stared at his back. “I’m sorry, but I can’t love you,” she mumbled to herself before she dragged herself in the opposite direction. She’d done what she’d always done but this time things felt different.
Coming 2.11.19
0 comments