"𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳." 𝐃𝐄𝐂 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟏 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐃: 𝐎𝐂𝐓 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟐

"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. ❀ 🝳 ❀

" 𝐒𝐎 𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐆𝐎𝐓𝐓𝐀 𝐏𝐀𝐘 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐃? " " 𝐃𝐎𝐍𝐓 𝐀𝐒𝐊 𝐌𝐄 𝐍𝐎 𝐃𝐔𝐌𝐁 𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐓 , 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐌𝐘 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐀𝐓?"

𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 ♡

"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.

Eriyonne Amani Black never planned on staying with her father and brothers for the summer. But after a falling out with her mother's new boyfriend, she's left seeking comfort in the family she only sees once a year. What she doesn't expect is Poet Zy'hmier Carter-her brother's best friend and the one person she's sworn to avoid. Recently released from prison after serving time for a crime he committed as a child, Poet is broken, closed off, and more dangerous than she ever imagined. Despite their differences, an unlikely bond forms between Eriyonne and Poet, one rooted in shared pain, misunderstandings, and unspoken feelings. As they help each other navigate their inner demons, something deeper begins to grow-an undeniable connection that could change everything. But when jealousy, past trauma, and an unexpected romance force them to confront their emotions, will they fight for the bond they've built, or let the past tear them apart? Started: 4/3/25

"So you just wanna fuck me forever, and that's it, huh?" "I ain't say-" He sucked his teeth. "We already talked about this shit, Z." "Nah." She chuckled dryly. "You just keep shutting me out." "Why you doin' this to me, Ma?" He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Hm? Why you tryna fuck everything up?" • • • • • • 𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚊 𝚗𝚘𝚗-𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚎𝚎𝚝𝚜 𝚊 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚛𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚌, 𝚊 𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚌 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚋𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚏𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚜 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚌 💌👻 𝙱𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝟷 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚅𝚊𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜

" 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘪 𝘴𝘮𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘵" 𝐀𝐏𝐑21 𝐀 𝐑𝐈4𝐕𝐄𝐆𝐀𝐒𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍

She walks in like the epitome of black girl luxury, but pain follows her. She covers it with bust-down jewelry and white roses. He's quiet, but his presence is loud in itself. Everyone knows him, but she sees right past him. She's confident, but he's more confident. She's fierce, but he makes her cower. Passionate. SADITIFIED.

Two guarded souls who recognize the ache in each other, trying not to fall too hard but drawn together anyway. Their love simmers beneath the surface-fierce, quiet, and complicated. He's her storm in silence; she's his peace in chaos *Unedited 𝑷𝑼𝑹𝑷𝑳𝑬𝑹𝑨𝑨𝑰𝑵 _® Started: 12/13/22 Published: 12/23/22 End: 12/29/23