6.5K words later 🥴 don't even talk to me about no update after this.

The following morning, Raj decided to stop by Lei's house, wanting to see her before he went off to work for the day. He pulled into the driveway, shifting the gears. As he got out of the car and walked to the front door, hitting the alarm, Keia and surprisingly Joziah were walking out of the door.

"Damn nigga, when have you ever been up this early?" Raj teased him, as they slapped hands. Keia simply gave him a warm smile as she continued towards her car. "Where's Lei?"

"Man I had to take a late start class and that shit started on Monday, so now I'll be walking out this hoe wit' them in the mornings. And she in there," he told him, also heading towards his car.

Raj walked into the house, locking the door behind him. He was about to head up the stairs until he heard Lei's voice.

"I'm in here," she said from the living room, he turned around and walked in, seeing she was curled up on the couch. He raised an eyebrow, noticing that she wasn't dressed as usual — instead a burgundy silk robe hugging her body.

"You feeling okay?" He asked her, sitting down beside her.

"Yea, my first class was canceled. So I'm just gonna chill here until it's close to my next one." she yawned, snuggling with her blanket.

"How you getting there?"

"An Uber,"

Raj sucked his teeth as Lei gave him a side-eyed glance, already knowing that she was going to have to argue him down about it. "Raj I'm not about to let you wait around for me, you have work to do. You can't always work your schedule around me, I'll be fine." she sighed.

"I don't care, Soleil. I'll do it if it means knowing you'll be safe. I never trusted that Uber shit, unless you wit' friends or some." he argued.

"Can you not for one day? You talk about me giving you pushback but you do it too. Seriously, go." she shooed him, but he remained seated, relaxing back in the sofa as he rested one arm on top of it.

"Why are you so stubborn?" he looked down at her, watching her shift, adjusting the pillow underneath her head. "Everything can't always go your way,"

"And everything can't always go your way either," she replied, Raj sucking his teeth again. "Go to work, Siraj. I will be fine, if it'll make you feel better I'll share my location wit' you."

"You wouldn't need to do that if you would just let me take you," Raj exasperated, letting go of a frustrated sigh.

Lei sat up straight, cupping his face. "You're really not gonna let this go, huh?" she asked him, he shook his head 'no'. She playfully rolled her eyes and tucked her hands into her lap. "Fine, you can drop me off — but, you can't pick me up."

"That depends..." he trailed off, giving her an uneasy look.

"On what, Siraj?"

"Are you planning on taking an uber back? If so, I'll waiting right in the damn parking lot." he grabbed her leg, resting it on his lap.

Lei dropped her head as she snorted a laugh, "No, I'll catch a ride back wit' Keia." she said, chills running throughout her spine as he slowly caressed her leg. Silence fell over them, intensely holding eye contact with each other. Lei looked down at her twiddling thumbs, the familiar feeling from last night returning once again.

"Are you ready to talk about it?" he broke the silence, playing with the anklet around her ankle. Lei took a deep breath, shifting on the couch as she folded her free leg that wasn't in his grasp.

She could admit that she was nervous to acknowledge what happened last night, and the fact that he was already aware of the feelings she carried for him. Thinking back to what Keia said about her confronting her feelings for Siraj, she joked with herself that he did it for her, since she was too cowardly to do so. Even hours after she left the event, she was ashamed to admit that he was heavily on her mind.

"I'm not, but if it were solely up to me to talk about it, I would probably avoid it." she half joked trying to lighten the awkwardness that she felt on her end, continuing to fiddle with her nails. She cleared her throat, feeling as he kept his gaze fixated on her. "How'd you know?"

"What did I tell you in the car a few days ago?" he responded, Lei glancing up at him as she folded her hands.

"That you pay attention to behavior," she said.

"Right, Soleil you're not very good at controlling your body language. Without you having to speak, I can read you like a book." he slightly chuckled, as she cracked a small smile.

"So, it was obvious?" she furrowed an arched brow, leaning back onto the arm of the couch. Raj hummed, shaking his head.

"No, at least not at first. The more we started to hang out, you started to act different towards me. You were comfortable wit' me before, but it's like — I don't know, this was a new level of comfort for you." he explained, his thumb still lightly brushing over her smooth skin.

"The day that I really knew for sure, was when we were in the drive thru at five guys. I do shit to see what kind of reaction I'll get out of you, and you damn near cave each time. You try hard to keep your composure around me, but I already be peeping. The way you...look at me sometimes, it's like you're genuinely happy to be around me — which makes me feel good because the feeling is mutual. On top of that, there's never a moment whenever you're wit' me and you're not smiling."

"And last but not least, you don't think I notice but you somewhat catch an attitude when I tell you I'm boutta leave — that you start to ask me if you could go wit' me to my job, which I don't have an issue wit', cause when you're there I know for sure my son gone be straight — not that he wasn't before but I'm more at ease knowing he's wit' you." Raj finished explaining, Lei now crossing her arms over her chest.

"So, if you knew this whole time...why haven't you said anything?" she raised an eyebrow, Raj shrugged and gestured his hand towards her.

"Because of the same reason why you haven't said anything either," he said, a confused expression now plastered onto her face. "You think it's wrong to have feelings for me,"

Lei unfolded her arms, deeply sighing as she threw her head back. "And you don't think it is?" she grimaced, tilting her head.

"I mean..." he trailed off, tugging at his jeans as he thought to himself for a second. "I can understand why you feel that way, Soleil. We've never even looked in each other's direction before Xahir passed, and it was probably because of a respect thing we had for him. The thought of me tryin' to get at you before, never crossed my mind because I always just seen you as my best friend's sister and nothing more."

"Plus, I was still dealing wit' Ximena, and she was the only woman I had my mind stuck on." He shrugged, Lei twisting her lips to the side as she rubbed her fingers across the silk fabric of her robe.

"That's another thing," she softly spoke, flipping her hair behind her shoulders. "You and Ximena have been together for a li'l minute, not saying that I'm worried about her but, how do I know that you're truly over her? Y'all have a son together, so there's always gone be some type of bond between y'all."

"You right, I'll always have love for her but I can't continue to let her toy wit' my emotions, and lead me on when she knows that I want a relationship but she doesn't." he told her, Lei shaking her head as she scoffed a laugh.

"I don't know bout allat," Lei replied, Raj eyed her suspiciously. "Ximena seems like the type that doesn't want to be wit' you but doesn't want anyone else to be wit' you. That night we went to Raegan's party when you introduced me to her, and y'all walked away together, Ximena's friend was like 'I wonder how he got her to do that'. And when I asked her if she thought that Raegan likes you, Ximena said 'Raj knows he looks good, bitches throw themselves at him all the time.'"

Raj sucked his teeth, beginning to sport an annoyed expression. "See? That's the shit I be talkin' about, she claims she doesn't care what I do or who I mess wit' but yet be low-key worried about it." he complained, as Lei simply stayed quiet, picking at the fabric of her blanket. Raj took notice of this and sighed, moving closer to her.

"Soleil," he called to her, she hummed in response, keeping her focus on her blanket. "Look at me,"

She slowly flicked her gaze upwards at him, he grabbed her hand, locking their fingers together. "You don't have to worry about her, I promise. If I was still messing around wit' her, I wouldn't initiate anything between us." he assured.

"And what about Raegan?"

"What about her?"

"Don't play wit' me Siraj, I'm not dealing wit' no nigga who old flings still has ties to him." Lei rolled her eyes, letting go of his hand.

"You ain' gotta worry bout her either," he said, watching her get up from the couch, stretching her body. She turned around to face him, reaching down to grab her blanket and fold it.

"I'm boutta get ready," she said, he simply nodded as she turned around and walked out of the living room and headed up the stairs.

For the next half hour, as Raj waited downstairs while Lei got dressed, he hopped on an important conference call regarding his vendor for his business. After an issue occurred with the vendor he usually ordered his fabrics from, he decided it was time to depart ways and find a new vendor.

As much as he didn't want to, because the vendor provided great quality, one thing he didn't tolerate was his money being played with. While he searched for new potential vendors, he would have to pause on restocking.

Lei returned downstairs now wearing a dark blue, short, velour sweatsuit set. Her bone straight hair parted in the middle as it flowed down her back, swaying back and forth each time she moved. She walked into the living room, hearing the voices on the speaker of Raj's phone, he also seemed to be concentrated on something else as his fingers tapped away on the screen.

Lei reached down to grab the remote off of the couch, breaking Raj out of his concentrated state, causing him to mute the phone. "You ready?" he asked her, she hummed in response, turning the TV off.

She set the alarm before they both walked out of the house, Lei locking up behind her. Once they got settled into the car, Lei kept to herself, not wanting to interrupt or be rude while he was on the call.

However, she would intently listen to him every five minutes or so, intrigued by how business savvy he was. She knew well enough that running a business was tough task, and not many were able to handle the stress or drawbacks of running one.

She witnessed first hand how laborious it was when her mom, Vanessa, opened up the daycare years ago. From filing licenses, to hiring the right employees, handling payroll and etc. There were times where Vanessa had contemplated shutting down her daycare and applying to nearby daycare centers.

With the support from her husband, and also her children, she kept pushing, knowing that it was her dream to own her own daycare — plus, knowing that Lei possibly wanted to follow in her footsteps. She wanted to set the right example, disclosing the pros and the cons of running a business in case Lei decided to take the route of opening her own daycare.

"Did you eat?" Raj briefly glanced over at her, once he was finally off of the phone.

"I did," Lei replied, texting her family in the family group chat on iMessage. "Did you?"

"We not talking about me,"

"Well we are now nigga, you better go get something to eat after you drop me off, Siraj." she spoke in a stern tone.

"Ma'am,"

"Sir,"

Raj chuckled as he pulled into the lot of Lei's campus. He backed into an empty parking space and shifted the gears, now giving Lei his full attention. "I'm not hungry, love." he told her, Lei pulling down the visor to apply lipgloss to her lips. "You look pretty,"

"Don't try to deflect from the conversation," she glared at him, putting the wand back into the tube of gloss, twisting it shut. "You better eat lunch then,"

"Eh, I'll think about it." he said, hearing Lei suck her teeth, causing him to laugh. "I'm just playing dang, talking bout me, look at you."

Lei waved him off in a dismissive manner, taking note of the time on the clock. She relaxed in the seat, looking over at Raj as he seemed to be occupied on his phone again.

"You're always on your phone," she pointed out, leaning onto the middle console.

"Very ironic coming from someone who's always on hers," he responded, locking his phone and sitting it down in the cup holder. "Sounds like you want my attention, so you got it now."

He also leaned onto the middle console, intently eyeing her. She tried holding back a smile, sitting straight before she dramatically let go of a sigh. An amused smirk grew onto Raj's face, "You seem nervous, love." he teased her.

Lei grabbed her bag, beginning to shake her head. "Let me go, before I strangle yo' ass." she said opening the door, causing him to laugh. He gently grabbed her by the arm, his other hand grabbing her throat as he pulled her in for a kiss.

The same butterflies from last night returning in the pit of her stomach once again. Raj pulled away, letting go of his grasp. "See you later, ma." he licked over lips, Lei's cheeks now flustered with heat.

"Have a good day, Raj." She said before getting out, shutting the door behind her. She deeply inhaled, holding her breath for a few seconds before exhaling as she walked towards campus along with other students.

"That man gone make me pounce on him," she mumbled to herself, adjusting the strap of her bag on her shoulder.

Seven o'clock rolled around, the day almost reaching an end just as quickly as it started. Lei yawned as she walked out of her house, Joziah locking the door behind her after she told him she was leaving.

She approached Raj's car and got in, sitting her overnight bag on the floor.

"Lei Lei!" Maj greeted her in the usual chirpy tone whenever he saw her. She smiled, looking back and grabbed his small hand as he reached out to her.

"Hi Dooda, how are you?" she questioned him, noticing the medium sized box in his lap. "What's that?" She pointed at the box.

"Daddy bought me slime!" he exclaimed, holding it up for her to see, Lei giggling at his excitement.

"Aw really? That's so cool," she let go of his hand and turned around to put on her seatbelt as Raj pulled out of the driveway. "Hey love," she spoke to him, seeing the weary look on his face.

"What's up?" he pulled onto the street, grabbing the water bottle from the cup holder.

"You okay?"

"Yea, just tired." he shrugged, drinking from the water bottle. "How was your day?"

"It was good, ready for the weekend though, so I can try to get some sleep." she stared out of the window, twirling her finger around the string of her hoodie.

"You ain't been getting no sleep?" Raj raised an eyebrow, finally glancing over at her as he approached a red light.

"No, I suffer from insomnia."

"I didn't know that," Raj grimaced, sitting the water bottle back into the cup holder. "You haven't tried anything for it?"

"I went to the doctor a few weeks ago and told my doctor about it, she wants me to try changing up my nightly routine, and removing any stress from my life before we result to her prescribing me any medication." Lei explained.

"Hm...okay. We'll work on that then," he said, pulling off as the light turned green. "You need your sleep, ma. Without that, you can't function properly."

"I know, and I swear I be tryin', Siraj." Lei slightly groaned, feeling Raj's hand grab hers as he rested his arm on the middle console.

"I'm sure you do, I'm not doubting that. How long have you had it?" he questioned her.

"Since Xahir passed..." Lei mumbled, clearing her throat. Raj quickly glanced at her, tapping his thumb on the steering wheel.

"I'm sorry to hear that, love." Raj rubbed his thumb over the side of her hand. Lei didn't say anything else afterwards regarding that situation, instead carrying a conversation with Maj as he listened to them.

Raj didn't want to intrude too much on the situation, knowing that Xahir's death was still a very touchy subject to speak on. Even he didn't like to acknowledge Xahir's death, which was probably bad for his mental, as he had been trying to carry on like usual.

However, he wondered if Lei had spoken to anyone at all about the issue she was having. He would try to ease into the conversation at a later time, at least wanting her to know that if she was open to talking about it, he was there to listen.

Lei stood in front of the counter, sprinkling the different seasonings on the chicken breasts. Once she made it to Raj's apartment, she quickly started on the food, wanting to feed Maj before Ximena picked him up.

Earlier while Lei was home, Raj asked her if she wanted to stay the night over his place. She accepted the invitation without hesitation, knowing she would probably miss his presence once he left her house.

However, she only accepted the invitation if he was to go to the store and pick up specific ingredients for her to cook, since she was craving a home cooked meal — plus after finding out that Raj still hadn't eaten anything.

While Lei was in the kitchen, Raj was in Maj's room, helping him make the slime, music playing in the background.

"Don't move it, I'm boutta get a ziplock bag." Raj told Maj, briefly stopping in the doorway before he walked into the kitchen.

Lei paused seasoning the chicken, her eyes roaming over the tattoos that were painted across Raj's skin like a canvass. His muscles flexing each time he moved his arm around in the cabinet. It was the first time she had actually seen him without a shirt.

Once he found what he was looking for, he closed the cabinet and started to walk out of the kitchen, until Lei sat the seasoning down on the side of the cutting board and gently grabbed his arm. She pulled him back towards her, Raj a bit puzzled by the gesture. She stood on her tip-toes a little, leaning up to kiss him.