sup niggas.

Lei wrapped the towel around her body, tiny water droplets coating her body as she stepped from out of the shower. The cold breeze hitting her skin, making her slightly shiver, that she end up unwrapping the towel and dried herself off.

After she was done, she reached down to grab her dirty clothes and walked out of the bathroom, over to her overnight bag on the floor.

Siraj was laying across the bed, watching a movie and crushing the food that Lei had bought him on her way over.

After spending the rest of their time at the café, the group of friends decided to call it a night and return home. Once Soleil made it home with her friends, she found it a little difficult to focus and keep her mind off of Siraj.

However, she was beginning to miss his presence heavily. Though she wanted to continue to keep the distance between them, she couldn't help but to crave his physical touch.

When she stopped by to see him earlier, she was surprised she was able to keep her composure around him, especially after he kissed her for the first time again in weeks.

It was safe to say though, that Lei ended up caving and found herself back on the road to stay the night with him.

The goofy grin he held on his face when she showed up on his door, made Lei sheepishly embarrassed, but he was glad that he was finally able to have her to himself.

Lei grabbed her body cream out of her bag and sat down on the bed, opening the jar. "So," she heard Raj say, causing her to glance back at him. "How was the beach?"

She scoffed, focusing on putting the cream on her legs. "It was going good at first," she said, Raj taking another bite out of his baked chicken.

"What happened?" he raised an eyebrow, watching as she now applied lotion to her arms.

She heavily sighed, before turning her a body a little to face him. "Elias..." she trailed off, Raj now sporting a smug look.

"What did he say?"

"Oh you know, that I'ma hoe. I waited until my brother died to fuck his best friend, I slept wit' his friend to get back at him for cheating on me wit' mine. I'm the one that need to get checked, all that good stuff." she bitterly laughed, shaking her head, continuing to rub in the cream.

Raj jerked his head back a little, now sitting up. "What?" he frowned, as Lei nodded in confirmation.

"Yup," she stood up, tucking the jar back into her bag. "Don't worry though, Isidro knocked his ass out in front of everyone."

"He did?" Raj tried holding back a laugh, willingly to give anything to have witnessed it himself.

"Yeah," Lei replied, slipping on her panties. Raj pulled his bottom lip between his teeth as he watched her, the towel hitting the floor as she took it off, exposing her boobs.

"Sure you gone need those?"

Lei blushed as she looked at him, seeing the lustful gleam in his eyes as he continued to intensely stare at her. It sent chills down her spine, as she tried keeping her composure.

She cleared her throat as she slipped her nightgown over her head. Raj lowly chuckled to himself, as he got off of the bed with his now empty takeout plate. As he went into the kitchen, Lei folded her towel and went to hang it up in the bathroom.

After she was done, she walked into the kitchen as well for something to drink. "So, what happened afterwards?" he pressed further, curious to know how Elias reacted after being put in his place.

"Well, Jojo pulled Isidro away because Elias's homeboys looked like they were ready to jump him. Jojo would've fought them, but he's more of a non-confrontational type of guy anyway, so. We ended up going to some café afterwards, and just hang out there." Lei explained, opening the fridge as she pulled out a bottle of cranberry juice.

"How was ya' boy afterwards?"

"He was good, we had a little private chat." Lei shrugged, beginning to take a sip of the juice. Raj eyed her for a few more seconds, before slowly approaching her.

"About what?" he tilted his head, Lei pausing as she watched him step into her personal space. She pulled the bottle away from her mouth, twisting the cap back on.

"Wouldn't really be private if I tell people," she gestured her hand between them, backing up against the counter. Raj placed his both of hands on the counter, trapping her in her spot.

"Hm," he hummed, staring at her lips. Lei felt as her heartbeat sped up, her eyes traveling down his tattooed chest. Though her nightgown wasn't tight on her, she felt as if her clothes were becoming restricted, the air getting heavy. "I'm not 'people', Soleil." he said, breaking her out of her trance.

Soleil took a deep breath, looking up at him, realizing how their faces were only inches apart. "S-so what—what are you then?" she stumbled over her words, her cheeks flustering with heat.

He gently grabbed her chin, as he leaned down to place a kiss on her lips. "You tell me," he mumbled, theirs lips brushing against each other. Lei could herself becoming weak in the knees, it was taking everything in her not to pounce on him.

It had been awhile since they last had sex, and to say that Lei was craving it—him, badly, was an understatement. However, now that they were taking their relationship more slowly, she wanted to hold off on the sex until then.

She argued herself down over it, feeling as if she were being dramatic or unreasonable about her decision. Deep down she knew it was for the best, not wanting their relationship to based on a trauma bond and just sex.

Raj continued kissing her, his hands sneakily roaming under her nightgown. She softly hissed, as he started planting kisses along her jawline, down to her neck. His hands firmly squeezing her breasts, as his fingers gently squeezed on her sensitive nipples, his tongue latching onto her neck.

Lei bit down on her lip, the temptation almost overtaking her. She grabbed his hands and pulled them from under her nightgown, slightly pushing him away.

"What's wrong?" he asked her, a concerned yet, panicked expression plastered on his face. She tucked her lips to keep herself from laughing, briefly looking down at the floor.

"I-I just, I think we should wait. We're taking our relationship slow, so...you know," she half shrugged, grabbing the bottle of cranberry juice again. "I'm sorry—"

"Don't apologize," he quickly stopped her, grabbing her hand. "As much as I want you, I don't want you to feel uncomfortable or feel like you have to rush it."

She smiled, nodding her head. "Thank you for understanding," she stood on her tip toes to kiss him. "I will like to cuddle though, I miss you holding me..."

Raj stayed silent as his hands wrapped around her thighs, picking her up. She wrapped her arms around his neck, while he walked them back to his bedroom.

"I've been missing you," he told her, gently placing her down on the bed. He walked back over to the bedroom door to close and lock it.

"Oh yeah?" a giddy smile stretching across Lei's face, he hummed in response, getting into the bed with her. He pulled her on top of him, as he laid on his back, his hands caressing her thighs. She leaned down to kiss him, placing her hands on her chest, she could feel herself getting hot between the legs.

The urge to resist him was becoming harder by the second, and she was starting to think that he was doing the little gestures on purpose as a means to tease her.

At the same time though, she could admit to herself that she was slightly enjoying it. She could only imagine what the sex would be like with all of the built up tension between them.

It was heavy.

Raj eyed her intently, as she gazed down at him with some type of look on her face. He casually moved his hands up further more on her thighs, his thumbs just inches away from her spot.

He heard as she took another deep, yet shaky breath. It was amusing watching her trying to keep her composure. Though he was craving her just as badly as she wanted him, he found pleasure in teasing her.

"Soleil," he called to her, as they continued to hold intense eye contact with each other. She didn't say anything, instead just slightly raised her eyebrows. "Why you fighting it, ma?"

"What do you mean?" she innocently asked, trying to act clueless as if he didn't have her completely melting in his hands.

He hesitated for a second, before a small grin appeared on his face. "I can feel it, you know." he said, referring to the heat radiating from off of her panties. He could also feel the second rhythmic heartbeat she carried below.

She opened her mouth to speak but quickly closed it, before getting off of him. He lowly chuckled to himself, as she laid down next to him, her back facing him.

"Still wanna cuddle, or?" he questioned, trying not to burst with laughter.

"Um, maybe later." she cleared her throat, grabbing the blanket to cover herself.

Soleil's eyes darted between the powerpoint on the projector and the screen of her MacBook as she typed away, taking notes. She was in her last class for the day, and she was more than ready to go grab some lunch.

She had hoped to have lunch with Keia and Joziah, but both had their own plans to tend to once they were done with classes. However, just as she thought she would be solo for a lunch, Raj texted her twenty minutes before and asked her if she wanted to go get lunch once he was done with his session.

She accepted the offer, wanting to see him anyways. She was just hoping that the same events from last night wouldn't play out once again.

Any other horny person in her shoes would have been given in to the temptation, especially with someone like Siraj. The way that he would stare at her was enough to make her wet between the thighs, the little gestures he would do to try and make her fold, drove her insane.

She hated it — yet, she loved it at the same time. He knew how to get to her without even touching her, and that alone spoke volume on how much he had a hold on her.

Though she didn't care for neither, she could very much understand why Ximena and Raegan couldn't leave him alone before — especially Ximena.

The only difference between them and her, was that she made Siraj feel the exact same way about her — even though she didn't know it.

The rest of Lei's lecture went smoothly, her professor reminding them of their exams that would be coming up soon. She packed up her things, and walked out of the classroom with the rest of the students.

She texted Siraj to let him know that her class had ended and that she would be on her way. As her attention was on her phone, she felt a hard grip on her arm, someone pulling her. She quickly glanced up and saw it was Elias, dragging her to an empty spot nearby.

"Boy, get the fuck off me!" she yanked her arm away, pushing him away. "Why won't you leave me alo—"

"Ole' boy must be ready to die behind you or some, cause I think he forgot I know where he stay." Elias interrupted her, frowning, as she had her back against the wall.

"Leave him alone, Elias. He was only defending me because I bruised your ego in front of everyone." Lei rolled her eyes, trying to squeeze past him, only for him to grab her arm again and push her back against the wall.

"Soleil, all I want to do is talk. I never intended for any of this shit to go this far, but you steady fuckin' trying me and I would never embarrass you the way you did me—"

Lei let out a loud laugh, throwing her head back. She gazed at him with a shocked expression, "Are you serious right now? You embarrassed me the moment you broke up wit' me and claimed that you weren't feeling me anymore but instead was fuckin' on my friend. Not only that, but you fucked Morgan as well! Don't talk to me about embarrassment because you have humiliated the fuck out of me since you came back around!" she snapped, getting into his face.

"I didn't fuck Kelz to get back at you, I don't get my lick back by adding another body on me, but even if I did, you deserved it! Months later, you're still fuckin' harassing me about a relationship that was ruined from the moment you stepped out on me! You can't blame no one but yourself in this situation."

"I've tried to be very generous on not getting a restraining order against you, because I know that would jeopardize your future and you would have a lot to lose — and trust me, you have a lot to lose." She adjusted the strap of her backpack on her shoulder. "Let this be your final warning since obviously Isidro's punch didn't knock it upside your head — come near me, my house, Isidro's house again, and I promise I'll be the ex from hell that you wish you hadn't crossed." She warned him, before bumping his shoulder as she walked past him.

Lei let go of a heavy sigh, as she walked towards the parking lot. She was annoyed that Elias wasn't taking the hint on leaving her alone, that she was regretting even giving him another chance.

She knew that he would feel some type of way about what happened at the beach, and knew that he wasn't the type to usually let beef go. However, she couldn't risk him bringing drama to Ms. Jean's house.

She was a sweet woman who stayed to herself, and like his grandmother, Isidro wasn't a guy who liked to be in people's business. Even though he went out of his way to defend her, she didn't want Ms. Jean to think that she gotten her grandson involved in mess.

She just hoped that her little warning to Elias was clear, because if not, she would hate to act like the bitch that he'd been trying to paint her out to be.

Thirty minutes later, Lei arrived in the parking lot of the restaurant that Raj had sent her the address of. She saw his car already parked, the driver's door opened, as he had one leg hanging out.

She parked in an empty space next to his car, before shifting the gears into park and killing the engine. She got out and hit the alarm to her car, walking over to his.

As he got out, she noticed that he was reaching into the car. To her surprise, it was Semaj.

"Lei Lei!" he exclaimed, running to her. She stood frozen in her spot, as she watched him approach her with his arms extended out.

She smiled, crouching down to his level and held her arms open for him to hug her. "Hi Dooda!" she greeted him, a little emotional to be seeing him again for the first time in weeks.

"I missed you!" he hugged her tightly, she pulled away, the huge smile on his face dropping as he took notice of the tears welling up in the brim of her eyes. "What's wrong, Lei Lei?" he pouted, a concerned look on his face.

She softly laughed, shaking her head as she quickly blinked and wiped away her eyes. "Nothing's wrong, Dooda. I just really missed you too," she told him, hugging him once again. Raj stood behind him, the interaction between the two melting his heart.

She stood up straight, his hand still in hers. "Yea' um, he really wanted to see you, and I figured it's been long enough, so." Raj explained, approaching her, planting a kiss on her cheek.

"Thanks, cause I really did miss him. I just never asked to see him because I didn't know if you wanted me aro—"

Raj waved his hand in a dismissive manner, "Nah, I get it. I appreciate you for giving it time, but you didn't do anything too serious that would result in me keeping you away from him." he assured her, as they walked into the restaurant.

As they did, the hostess greeted them with a warm smile. "Welcome!" she exclaimed, grabbing the menus. "How many today?"

"Just three," Raj answered, as she nodded and gestured them to follow her. Lei adjusted the strap of her purse on her forearm, her purse feeling a little heavy. The hostess led them to a booth, Semaj sliding in first then Lei as Raj sat across from them.

"Would you like a booster seat?" she asked them, Raj nodded in response as she sat the menus down in front of them, along with coasters. "I'll be right back," She told them before walking away.

"Is that my hoodie?" Raj furrowed his eyebrows, noticing the familiar grey hoodie that Lei was wearing.

She glanced around, shaking her head. "Nooo," she drawled out, as Raj started laughing. "Okay, maybe. But look, I only took it because you taking forever to get me my own." she confessed, smoothing out the hoodie on her.

"You can keep it, and I gotchu. I got new merch dropping next week, it's raw as hell. One of my partners really did his shit wit' the design," Raj beamed, excited to be finally be dropping new merch for the upcoming holidays.

"I can't wait to see it, is it a variation of clothing? Like hats, T-shirts and so on?" she questioned him, the hostess returning with the booster seat. Lei grabbed the seat out of her hand and slid out of the booth. Maj scooted over a little, letting her sit the booster down in his original spot before he got onto it. "Thank you," Lei thanked the hostess.

"No problem," she smiled before walking away again.

"Yeah I got all types of stuff dropping next week," Raj finally responded, opening the pack of crayons for Semaj and sliding it over to him so that he was able to color on the paper kid's menu. "What you getting, big man?"

"Chicken tenders," Maj replied, taking out the blue crayon, beginning to color on the paper.

"Chicken tenders? You sure that's what you want?"

"Yes,"

"A'ight," Raj said, before returning his attention back onto Lei, who was looking over the menu, a little overwhelmed by the many options to choose from. "So, Soleil..."

She glanced up from the menu, locking eyes with him. "When you gone get in front of my camera?" he raised an eyebrow, Lei blushed and looked back down at the menu.

"Please," she waved him off, flipping over to the back of the menu. "I'm not the model type, I'm too clumsy for all that."

"That's the beauty of it though, you don't have to be a model. At least in front of my camera, I want you to be extremely comfortable in front of the lens." Raj told her, watching as a waiter approached their table.

"Hello, my name is Terry. I'll be your waiter, can we start you off with some drinks?" he pulled out a notepad, a friendly smile on his face.

"Uh yeah, can I get a sprite? And then for him, hi-c fruit punch if you have it." Raj said, pointing at Semaj.

"Sprite for you, hi-c fruit punch, and for you?" Terry turned towards Lei, who still held her focus on the menu.

"Strawberry lemonade," she answered, not bothering to look up.

"Alrighty, are we also ready to order? Or do we still need time?"

"A li'l more time,"

"No problem, I'll be right back with your drinks." Terry smiled, tucking his notepad back into the small apron.

"I get what you saying, I just never been comfortable taking full body pictures, you know? Almost all of my pics are either selfies or from the waist up." Lei sat back in the booth, pushing the menu away as she finally decided on what to get.