Salae Amira Bennett came to college with a plan. Graduate. Become a neonatologist. Keep her hair laid, lip gloss popping, and maybe find a girlfriend that actually treats her right for once. Simple. But moving into an off-campus house near Peachtree State University with five strangers quickly proves that nothing about college is simple. Especially when one of those strangers is Aaliyah "Liyah" Monroe. Tall. Calm. Flirty. Annoyingly observant. And for some reason... always staring at Salae. At first they can't stand each other. Too many smart comments. Too much tension. Too many arguments in the kitchen at 2AM. But the more time they spend in the same house, the harder it becomes to ignore the pull between them. Between messy friends, ex drama, jealousy, late night confessions, and emotions neither of them fully understand... Salae and Liyah might realize something dangerous: Sometimes the person you swear you'd never fall for... is already unintentionally yours.

"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. ❀ 🝳 ❀

❝𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝗼𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐜𝐥𝗼𝐬𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝗼𝐮𝐠𝐡❞

"𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭." 𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦. "𝘐 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦. 𝘈𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭." 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘳𝘶𝘣𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦.

"𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙩 𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣' 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙠𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙖 𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙜𝙖 𝙬𝙚 𝙗𝙪𝙧𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡 𝙩𝙤𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧." -𝙏𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙇𝙖𝙣𝙚𝙯 (Under Heavy Construction ⚠️ .)

"𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘴𝘵𝘢, 𝘴𝘰 𝘐 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘳." 𝖠𝖯𝖱𝖨𝖫 𝟤𝟢𝟤𝟥 － 𝖠𝖴𝖦𝖴𝖲𝖳 𝟤𝟢𝟤𝟥

𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒐 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 ? 𝑾𝒉𝒐 𝒅𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏 𝒕𝒐 ?