"Angel, why u keep on playin' wit me , hm ?" "Bellamy, I'm not ."

"Kaden what abou- "Nah rae'quan ion give a fuck what nobody got to say when it and comes to me and u." - Kaden and Rae have been in the same friend group since growing up, they never really talked to eachother other than if it was about work, what happens when they start to get to know one another more and they start wanting to know more about each other more than they let on ?

"You trust me?" he asked, eyes turning soft once they made contact. "Maj, I-I-" "I said do you trust me, Lucky?" he repeated, voice hard. "...yes," she breathed out, and his next words came without hesitation, sending a chill down her spine. "Then shoot."

" I don't even like you like that." Her face scrunched up in disgust watching water drip from curls in his hair. " 'Cause you love me. Just like I love you." He retorted with a grin, disregarding the deflecting she was doing. --- They were two sides of the same city-until one move split them down the middle. Elijah and London were inseparable once, bonded by childhood summers, beat-up bikes, and secrets too deep for anyone else to know. Unfortunately, when Elijah's mom packed up and moved her family across Onyx to a rival neighborhood, everything changed. She always thought when she spoke to him again he would've changed like her. She was witty, sarcastic, and had a low tolerance, but he was still the same calm , sweet, cute boy with a heart the size of the sun. Some things haven't changed. Some things never change. The pull between them, the memories that still burn etched marks in their brain, and the words they never said out loud. In a world where loyalty can be life or death, and love isn't always enough to cross old lines, Elijah and London find themselves circling each other again. --- STARTED; MAY 26th, 2025 PUBLISHED JUNE 6th, 2025 FINISHED; SEPTEMBER 27th 2025

"Beautiful things don't ask for attention." In a world that thrives on conformity, August is an anomaly. Raised in a secretive overbearing family, she was chosen to leave its hidden grounds-not for freedom, but for duty. Sent to college to become the strategic mind for her generation behind the family's growing empire, she tries to move through the world like a ghost, draped in gothic shadows with secrets too heavy to share but her style is just too much to go unnoticed by judging eyes unscathed. Then she meets Kason through his older brother. A rising rapper with a reckless charm and a hunger for something real, dealing with battles of his own, he's instantly drawn to August's eerie demeanor and the quiet storm that lingers behind her dark mysterious eyes. She's nothing like the women he's used to-unbothered by trends, and untouched by the need for validation. The more she resists, the deeper he falls, his infatuation turning into an obsession he can't shake. One he cant let go of. As their worlds collide, the slow burn of their connection threatens to ignite everything August has been taught to suppress. With her past closing in and expectations pressing down, she must decide if she's willing to defy everything she's ever known for the chance at something dangerously real. In a society that demands she fit a mold, August stands in defiance. Unfortunately, love has a way of making even the strongest question their silence. STARTED; February 22nd , 2025 PUBLISHED; MARCH 18th, 2025 FINISHED; MAY 27th, 2025

"Solè, why'd you stay?" "Because, Zaire... you the first thing that ever felt worth staying for." ❀ 🝳 ❀ Harlem held the noise. Solè gave Zaire the quiet. Zaire Knox, Harlem's quiet storm, known for his ties to the streets and a gaze that read people faster than they could lie to him. Respected. Feared. Loved. With scars buried deeper than his tattoos, he never planned to love soft. Until a Harlem vinyl shop left behind by his late grandfather forces him to slow down, to breathe, to find his real purpose in the world beyond the streets. Solè Sinclair, soft but unbreakable, raised by her father after loss. By day, she serves warmth behind the counter of a café. By night, she disappears into her art, trying to paint the parts of herself no one ever sees. When their worlds cross, the city shifts. What starts off tense and unexpected turns tender. Together, they learn love can hold you just as fierce as the streets ever did, and softer, too. But love in Harlem always asks one question: what are you willing to risk when the heart wants more than the streets ever offered? A Harlem story. A hood love. A soft place to land. ❀ 🝳 ❀

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Masai and Koda were supposed to kill each other. Leaders of rival gangs, raised by the streets, built on hate and loyalty. But when a setup turns into something deeper, they find themselves caught in a slow-burning connection that neither of them can explain. They're both dominant. Both dangerous. Both confused as hell. But the more time they spend together, the harder it gets to act like this ain't something. This ain't a love story. It's something... Crazy. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ "Then surprisingly, I wouldn't be upset." His voice lowered a notch. "But maybe I'm just crazy... right along wit you."

He left a mark I never asked for. Now he wants to finish the piece. Amina Westbrook didn't choose motherhood. But when her younger sister dropped a baby and disappeared, Amina stepped up, raised that little girl as her own, and never looked back. Seven years later, the past comes tatted, cocky, and fine as hell-standing in the grocery store with the same hypnotic eyes her daughter sees in the mirror. Santiago Vega. Zuri's father. The man who left before he ever knew she existed. Now he wants in. He wants time. Forgiveness. A chance to be a father. And every time he shows up with that deep voice and soft smirk, Amina hates how badly she wants to let him. Santiago isn't just showing up for Zuri-he's showing up for her. Fixing things she didn't ask him to fix. Dropping money in her hand like it's his right. Touching her like he already knows how she breaks. Amina's been holding everything together for so long, she doesn't know how to let go. Doesn't know how to want someone who actually stays. But Santiago stays. Through the attitude. The boundaries. The sparks that keep catching fire. And when he finally gets his hands on her? There's nothing soft about it. Now she's spiraling in his sheets, clashing with him in front of her family, and falling harder than she ever meant to. Because Santiago doesn't just want to play daddy. He wants the whole damn family. And this time, he's not leaving until he has them. Ink Don't Lie is a gritty, emotionally charged, standalone romance about second chances, found family, and the kind of love that refuses to walk away.