Tasi knew it was impossible to get out of the marriage that her father arranged for her. Being the eldest born of the Trebu’ku’ tribe, she had known one day it was bound to happen. Her father, the chief, as they called him ran the streets of Rosewood and no one questioned his authority.

Tasi stared at the diamond ring in her hand and felt tears welling up in her eyes as she thought of him, the guy she actually loved. She turned her head to see the guy standing next to her, his expression. Tasi couldn’t tell if he was just as miserable as she was or just happy to be with her.

“Congratulations!” Tasi’s father exclaimed giving a huge hug to the chief of the other tribe that was a part of the town. They were called the Snakes and her father had wanted to form an alliance to stay out of trouble. That’s what had been taking place in Rosewood for years and no one, not even the police could to anything about it as they paid them enough money to keep them at bay.

“I’m so glad to have become a part of this family,” Ricky, the chief of snakes, exclaimed patting his son on the back. “Napo, atleast show some gratitude. Trebu’ku’ have decided to let you become a part of this family.”

Inapo, or Napo as everyone called him, was the eldest born of the Snakes. Just like Tasi, he too knew was bound to marry someone like this one day. Someone he did not love or knew. That is why he had stayed away from such matters all his life and had promised himself to give his heart only to the one was arranged to marry.

He could sense Tasi’s unease and he wished he could say something to her to give her comfort. He knew she probably wanted to be with someone else but was doing this out of duty. It was in that moment Napo decided he would do all he can to win Tasi’s heart and try his best to keep her happy, even if it meant she would never love him back.

“Ocean.” Tasi’s father smiled at her and then looked at Napo. “Wave. Two beautiful names bound together and destined to become powerful together.”

Tasi felt guilty because of the way her father looked at her with such pride.  If he found out what truly held in her heart, he would hate her, despise her and possibly even disown her. So she had no choice but to fake a smile and intertwine her fingers into Napo’s.
 

🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷

“They can’t fucking force you to marry some asshole you barely know!” Ayeleen yelled feeling rage coming over her. How could this be happening to her best friend.

Tasi sighed leaning back on the chair, putting a French fry into her mouth.

“Come on there has to be a way to get out of this,” Percephonie said calmly. She was always the calm and rational one out of the three. Percephonie knew that Ayeleen always got extremely emotional over the most little things and had to deal with it almost every week being her roommate.

“I don’t know you guys,” Tasi sighed again thinking about Napo. Thinking about Hiro.

“Here’s your mocha, Ayeleen,” Tasi heard a familiar voice and looked to see that handsome face she could not keep her eyes away from. It was Hiro. He was also one of their friends but worked at the Rosewood Diner where they all hung out almost every day.

“Thanks babe,” Ayeleen smiled quickly grabbing her cup. Tasi felt a pang of jealousy but then she realized Ayeleen called everyone babe. Hiro’s eyes met hers and she felt her heart jump to her throat.

“I can sense a little tension here,” Hiro said slowly crossing his arms. He was careful not give away how much he wanted to just grab Tasi by her arms and do things to her right there. They both had been together for a year now and had somehow managed to deceive their friends. Even his roommate, Jerome, had no idea about his and Tasi’s secret love life.

“Oh we can only tell you once you get off your shift,” Ayeleen said taking a sip of her mocha as she felt Percephonie squeezing her thigh beneath her table. “What?!”

“We don’t necessarily have to share every girl talk with the guys,” Percephonie eyed Ayeleen and then turned to smile at Hiro.

Ayeleen realized the death stares Tasi was giving her and she knew that was her cue to shut up.

“Ohh okay,” Hiro said feeling rather uncomfortable. “I’ll see you guys at the apartment.” And with that he decided to get back to work and just ask Tasi directly what was up.

“Do you have a picture or something of this guy you’re engaged to?” Ayeleen asked enthusiastically. As much as she was mad for her friend, she was kind of excited too. To attend a wedding, be a bridesmaid, since she never hoped she could ever be a bride herself or even find love for that matter.

“No, I do not.” Tasi scoffed, feeling almost nauseous thinking about her engagement ceremony.

“All right, you don’t have to tell us just yet,” Percephonie said realizing the discomfort Tasi was feeling. “How about you come over after we get off work and we can just have a nice meal and talk more about this.”

“I’d like that,” she smiled in reply.

“I gotta get to school,” Ayeleen groaned looking at the time in her phone. “I do not want to be late again or they are going to fire me.”

“Me too,” Percephonie got up to join Ayeleen to head out as she worked at the local book store.

Tasi sighed in relief as she was glad she could now finally get some time to herself. Before she could even comprehend what was going on, she left a hand grab her arm and drag away from the table.

She felt excited as she knew who it was. Silently, she followed to the back of the diner anticipating what was to come after.

Hiro crashed his lips into hers pulling her into the storage room. In just a moment, Tasi was already desperate for him, to have him and she knew he felt just the same. They let their tongues dance around with each other while slowly peeling off every last bit of clothing. It was like they had memorized this entire session and yet, they couldn’t get enough.