Denton-Hurst and Bonét on Love, Risk, Trust

Writers Tembe Denton-Hurst and Sasha Bonét discussed navigating uncertainty in love and creativity in an interview published on August 31, 2026. The conversation, reported by Isabel Bekele for Dazed, centered on Denton-Hurst's new short story, The Week We Were Friends, created for the Hinge audiobook series No Ordinary Love.

Denton-Hurst's story is based on the real-life relationship of a couple named Isabella and Rebecca, who met on the dating app Hinge. The narrative focuses on a specific, tense week where Isabella considered ending their nascent relationship, leading to a difficult conversation. Rebecca then suggested they try being friends instead. Denton-Hurst explained she was drawn to this grey liminal space because it captures the nuanced, often unspoken hiccups of early love.

The Bravery of Commitment

Both authors framed commitment as an act of courage. Denton-Hurst, who has been with her wife since she was 18, stated that committing to love, especially from a young age, is very brave. She emphasized the challenge of growing individually within a long-term connection.

Bonét, who is currently in a relationship, agreed strongly. She said that having a baby alone and moving to a new city did not require as much courage as committing to love. For her, present bravery involves vulnerability and saying difficult things to her partner, trusting that the love remains despite challenges.

Trusting Instincts in Writing and Life

The discussion turned to how personal history shapes one's approach to love and risk. Bonét, who also teaches nonfiction, argued that family teaches us how to love and care for others. She connected this to a fundamental principle in her writing pedagogy: pursuing the subjects that cause fear.

She said she always encourages her students to go exactly where they are running from. If you feel a lot of fear in writing about something, you are exactly where you are supposed to be. She described this as excavating a wound to find the core of the work.

When asked how she knows to trust a story idea without knowing its ending, Bonét pointed to her upbringing. She explained she was raised to believe that you always trust your instincts, that your instincts are all you have, linking this to her identity as a Black woman. She said ideas pursue her until she can no longer avoid them, a process she noted mirrors her approach to romantic relationships. She concluded that she needs to be pursued.

The Myth of Certainty in Dating

A key theme was the human desire for guarantees in romance, which both writers dismissed as a fantasy. Denton-Hurst suggested people seek an insurance policy in love to guard against the inevitable pain of connection. She stated that to love is to be vulnerable, and to be vulnerable is to expose the softest parts of yourself.

Bonét observed that popular culture feeds the myth of instant, doubt-free recognition of the one, which contrasts with the messy reality of dating. She pointed to the character Rebecca in Denton-Hurst's story, who chooses to date Isabella again despite having no certainty that her doubts will not resurface. This, Bonét implied, embodies the necessary risk.

The No Ordinary Love audiobook, a Hinge project, features five real love stories written and read by different authors, including Nicola Dinan, Curtis Garner, Raven Smith, and Rufi Thorpe. The stories are available to listen to on Spotify or Substack. The project spotlights the importance of taking risks in dating, a theme that resonates with the uncertainty often seen in a team's fixtures or a player's recovery from injuries, where outcomes are never guaranteed.