hi icy gang,

before y'all read, please, please, please, pleaseeeeeeee make sure y'all are following my backup account DiaryofWynter I cannot stress this enough. LMAO, I'm following ppl back as well,. if you already follow me, cool. thanks for not being hardheaded. 🙂

"So what's going on, miss glow stick?" Selah teased Soleil as they walked the streets of Manhattan. Soleil silently laughed to herself as she looked over at her sister.

"Not miss glow stick,"

"Yes ma'am, we can use you to the light a dark room, the way you're glowing right now. My guessing is, y'all are back on good terms now, right?" Selah raised an arched eyebrow, Selah's daughter, Kinsley ranting about nonsense as she held her hand.

"You can definitely say that," Soleil blushed a little, glancing over her shoulder at Siraj and Antonio, as they walked behind them from a small distance, carrying their own conversation.

Her and Siraj locked eyes, a sly grin already on his face from the joke Antonio cracked. He sent her a wink, causing a flurry of butterflies in her stomach. She turned back around, a giddy smile on her face.

Soleil was still on a high from last night. The built up tension between the two, had finally been released. The way he tenderly catered to her body—her sexual needs, it was like he worshipped her temple. The sweet little praises he whispered in her ear, the way he talked her through the multiple orgasms—it was all so intense, yet mind blowing.

She could only imagine how the sex would be once they start experiencing with toys—something that she shamelessly couldn't wait to try.

"Well that's good, it better stay that way or I'ma hurt his ass." Selah also glanced back, shooting him a quick stern look. "But anyways, I bought a new drinking game for us to play. Siraj being here shall make it more interesting,"

"Aww, I missed our game nights." Soleil pouted, excited that they'll finally have their game night again. Usually game nights involved their whole family, just without the drinking. Sometimes whenever Selah was in town, the three siblings hosted their own separate game night to drink and have fun.

However, the last game night the family had was a year ago when Selah visited for the holidays. It would be different this year, because of Xahir's absent presence, but Soleil was still glad she would still be able to experience some type of normalcy for once this year.

"I think I wanna get a tattoo," Soleil said, as they passed by a tattoo shop. Selah raised her eyebrows in amusement, stopping in front of the shop. "What?" Soleil nervously laughed, stopping as well.

Selah gestured her hand towards the tattoo shop, "Let's get one then, sis." she suggested, Soleil's mouth fell agape slightly as she looked from Selah to the tattoo shop.

"You're serious?" she held perplexed expression, taken aback that her sister was actually interested in the idea of getting tattoos. Especially since neither had any tattoos.

Selah nodded, a half smile on her face. The guys finally caught up to them, still laughing from their conversation.

Antonio's laughter died down as he noticed where they had stopped. His eyes darted between the two women, a puzzled, yet amused look on his face. "Tattoo shop? Who getting a tattoo?" he inquired.

"Both of us — here baby, go wit' daddy." Selah guided Kinsley over to Antonio, Kinsley letting go of her hand and taking Antonio's.

"You're actually serious?" Soleil asked her again.

"What? You scared?" Selah grinned, adjusting the strap of her purse on her forearm.

"No, but as I remember correctly, you're not too fond of needles. And as we all know, you need a needle to get a tattoo." Soleil teased her, crossing her arm over her chest.

Selah sucked her teeth and waved her off, walking towards the entrance. "Girl, that was Xahir." she lied, Soleil beginning to crack up.

"Daddy, can we go to M&M's?" Kinsley looked up at Antonio, pointing down the street where the M&M's store was.

"Of course baby," Antonio agreed, starting to walk in the direction where the store was. "A'ight bae, we'll be down the street." he told Selah.

Siraj approached Soleil, his hands tucked in the deep pockets of his pants for warmth. A small smile grew onto her face as she watched him, he leaned down to kiss her before following behind Antonio and Kinsley.

"Chile' y'all too cute," Selah cooed, Soleil playfully rolling her eyes as they walked into the tattoo shop.

"So, you figured out what you get her for Christmas yet?" Antonio questioned Siraj, licking over his lips for moisture.

Siraj huffed, taking one of his hands out of his pocket to adjust the fitted cap on his head. "Man, I been all on her twitter to see what she be liking, so I can have some idea of what to get — it took me three days. Knowing me though, I probably would've bought every damn thing she liked on twitter." He stressed, Antonio laughing in response. "But I found something eventually, I hope she likes it."

"It be like that, it's sick how these women be having us wrapped around their fingers." Antonio replied. "Is she materialistic though, or?"

"Not really — shit, I have to argue her down just to pay for her food." Siraj scoffed a laugh, slipping his hand back into his pocket. "I don't think she's used to being spoiled, at least by her boyfriend."

Antonio peeked over at him, with a goofy grin. "Boyfriend, huh? So, it's really official between y'all?" he playfully nudged him.

Siraj couldn't hold back his smile, as he briefly looked down at his feet. "I haven't asked her yet," he told him.

"What you waiting on, man?"

"We just got back on good terms, bruh."

"And?" Antonio sized him, giving him a funny look. "You gone wait until y'all on bad terms to ask or some? Do it now, y'all both feeling each other, so why wait?" he preached to him.

He do make a good point, Siraj thought himself.

"I should, cause it's hard to get off Soleil's bad side. She blocked me twice, and be going to great lengths to avoid me." Siraj slightly chuckled, as they approached the crosswalk, waiting with a small crowd of people to cross the street. "But she said, she wanted to take our relationship slow."

"Shoot that's even more of a reason to make it official, if y'all officially together, she can't avoid you." Antonio laughed, as they watched the cars pass through the street. "And y'all can still do that, only difference is, y'all will be in a relationship."

"You right," Siraj agreed, feeling as if he were ready to make Soleil his girlfriend. Especially after professing his love to her last night. In such a short amount of time, no girl has ever had him wrapped their finger, like Soleil did.

He felt like he had finally found his person to go home to after a long day, the person who brought him peace and joy like he'd been craving. The last time he felt that way, was about Ximena but with Soleil, the feeling was on steroids'.

The cars finally stopped at the stop light, allowing them to finally cross the street safely. The M&M's shop was slightly crowded, children's voices could be heard, excited to be getting their sugary fix. Siraj smirked to himself, imagining how Semaj would react if he were there, since he loved candy.

"Wish my son was here, he would love this shit." Siraj said, as they walked inside, the store much bigger on the inside than he expected.

"How old is he now?"

"Three,"

"Man, these kids be growing up fast, I tell ya." Antonio shook his head, letting Kinsley pull him towards the dispensers that were filled with different colored M&M's. He reached down to pickup Kinsley and grabbed a plastic baggy, "A'ight princess, what color you want first?" he asked her, Siraj grabbing a few plastic baggies for Soleil and to take home to Semaj.

"Pink!" she exclaimed, pointing at the tube that was filled with pink and white M&M's. He held open the baggy for her, as she held it under the dispenser, the M&M's beginning to pour into the baggy.

About an hour later, Soleil and Selah finally linked back up with Antonio, Kinsley and Siraj. Despite putting a tough exterior earlier in front of the trio, Selah end up chickening out once it was her turn to get a tattoo. Her fear of needles, overtook her and she told Soleil she'd stick with the fake tattoo's that comes in the cereal boxes.

They decided that they were now ready for some food, and settled on a restaurant not too far from where they were.

"Let me see," Siraj gently grabbed Soleil's arm and took a picture of her new ink to add to his story. "You was scared?" he started grinning.

"Not really, but that shit did hurt." she told him, looking at her tattoo. In honor of her brother, Soleil got a tattoo of an infinity symbol, Xahir's name in the middle as there were two doves flying on the each side. "I really like it though, it's cute."

(Since niggas can't use imaginations for shit 😒 still love y'all though.)

"I like it too, it looks good. You think you might any more tattoos in the future?" he questioned her, sitting his phone down on the table. Soleil nodded, as she tapped through Siraj's IG story.

She paused, when she came across a picture of her when they were in times square earlier in the day. Though it was an off guard, she thought the picture was extremely cute and well taken. "Sir, who told you to take this picture of me?" she smirked, showing him the photo.

"I did, you looked pretty. I needed to capture that shit, now mind your business, ma'am." he replied. Soleil smiled and leaned forward, puckering up her lips. Siraj leaned in and gave her a kiss, his hand caressing her thigh under the table.

"Get a room," They both heard Selah say, they pulled away, Soleil blushing as Siraj held a cocky grin on his face.

Later on that night, Soleil, Selah and Antonio sat around in the living, playing heads up as their next game, Kinsley was worn out from their outing so she fell asleep right after her bath. Unfortunately, Siraj had to depart from the trio much earlier to get ready for work. He wouldn't be returning until much later since his gig was in Brooklyn. Even though he wanted to partake in their game night, there was money to be made.

However, they had hopes he would still be able to make it if the concert didn't end too late. Either way, Soleil would be returning back to his hotel once he made it back to spend their last night in New York together before he returned home tomorrow afternoon.

"It's something that you sew with!" Selah exclaimed, as Antonio held up the phone above his forehead, trying to guess each word that the two girl described. Soleil couldn't catch her breath as she cried laughing, it was safe to say that Antonio wasn't the best at guessing games.

"A needle?" Antonio asked, Selah throwing up her hands in frustration, Soleil's laughter growing silent as she laid on her back, cramps forming in her stomach. "Nigga what is it? Thread?"

"No!" Selah laughed, placing her hands on her head. "Just skip it! You wasting your own time, nigga!"

Antonio sucked his teeth, flipping the phone up to skip the word. Selah quickly stood to her feet, but then pretended to pass out. "Falling?" he raised an eyebrow, Selah shaking her head.

She got up again, placing the back of her hand on her forehead and pretended to faint again, this time more dramatically. "Passing out? Fainting?" he questioned.

"Yes!"

Antonio flipped the phone down, but before the next word could pop up on the screen, the timer went off. Soleil sat up, wiping away her teary eyes as she finally caught her breath. "Antonio, now you know you're my brother and I love you, but you're terrible at this game," Soleil teased him, as he sat the phone down on the table.

"Man whatever, bet y'all not tryna play Uno though, y'all know y'all gone get that ass spanked." he waved them both off, watching Selah pour a shot into the shot glass.

"A'ight nigga, you know the rules. You had less points, you gotta take a shot," Selah passed the shot glass over to him, before getting up and walking towards where the kitchen was to grab another bottle. Antonio grabbed the shot glass, and downed the liquor.

"What was the word anyway, Lei?" Antonio placed his shot glass down, wiping his lips with the back of his hand.

"It was a thimble,"

Antonio twisted his face up in confusion, Soleil falling into a fit of laughing. "What the hell is a thimble?"

"It's something that you place over your thumb while sewing—men are so clueless!" Soleil cracked up, grabbing her cup of cranberry juice that she used as a chaser.

They heard as someone rang the doorbell, causing Antonio to get up from his spot and head towards the front door. Selah returned, a bottle of Patron in her hand. A few moments later, Antonio returned with Siraj right behind him, his backpack on his back. "Hey Raji," Selah smiled, giving him a side hug. "How was the concert?"

"It was straight, I was ready to leave though." he replied, taking off his backpack and sitting it down on the floor by the couch. Once the concert was done, instead of having the guys drop him off back at the hotel, he made them drop him off a block from where Selah lived.

He didn't really want them to know where they lived, just in case.

"So what we playing?" Siraj asked them, taking a seat next to Soleil. He leaned over to kiss her on the cheek, his hand finding it's way to it's usual spot on her thigh.

"That head's up shit, I don't think I want to play that shit again. Hard ass words," Antonio complained, as both Selah and Soleil giggled.

"I say we make it more interesting, women versus men," Selah menacingly grinned, sitting the bottle of patron down on the table. The trio exchanged glances with each other and nodded, shrugging. Soleil and Antonio got up to switch spots, Selah grabbing the phone to start a new game. "Good luck, Siraj."

Siraj tilted his head, a now puzzled look on his face as Soleil snickered to herself.

"Ladies first," Antonio gestured his hand towards them. Selah started the game, holding the phone above her forehead. Soleil snickered to herself as she read the word that popped up.

"Okay, uh, it's a type of seafood, you eat." Soleil hinted.

"Shrimp—crabs, uh, uh, fish!" Selah started to call out different answers as Soleil shook her head.

"Beyoncé takes her man to, blank, when he fucks her good."

"Red Lobster! Lobster?" Selah raised her eyebrows as Soleil started laughing, nodding in confirmation. Selah flicked the phone down, moving onto the next word.

Soleil stood up and held her arms out, beginning to walk around. Selah furrowed her brows, watching her for a second, Siraj and Antonio snickering to themselves.

"Pushing a stroller? A buggy?"

Soleil then starting to make humming sounds.

"Mowing the lawn!"

"Yes!" Soleil clapped her hands.

The next two and a half hours, the four sat around and played games, their night filled with nothing but joyous laughter and new fun memories. Soleil and Siraj said goodbye to Selah and Antonio for the new, before catching a taxi back to Siraj's hotel.

While in the taxi, Soleil rested her head on Siraj's shoulder, as they held hands, inebriated off of the shots they'd had taken during the games. They were both feeling in euphoric, happy to be in each other's presence.

Though he was all smiles, there was a little sadness that lingered in Siraj, not wanting to part ways with her tomorrow afternoon. After the time they had spent apart in the previous weeks, he wasn't ready to leave her just yet.

Especially since Christmas was in two days.

"Raji," Soleil called him, he hummed in response, his thumb caressing over the back of her hand. "I'm glad you're here,"

"Is that you or the liquor talkin'?" he slightly chuckled, knowing that she had more than a few shots.

"Me, nigga." she giggled, causing him to laugh harder. "I'm happy that we made up, I don't like when we're on bad terms."

"Me neither..." he trailed off, looking down at their entangled fingers. "I thought you were really done wit' me,"

Soleil picked up her head to look at him, beginning to grimace. "I needed to be sure..." she paused, as they gazed into each other's eyes. "That this is what you really wanted. We've both dealt wit' people who didn't want a relationship wit' us—or at least didn't want anyone else to have us. This is new, where the energy is reciprocated on both ends." she continued on.

"I just didn't—or still don't, want to be led on or put my all into it and then, you get scared and pull away because you're unsure. I just don't want to be hurt again." she finished venting, Siraj nodding in understanding.

"I don't have intentions of hurting you, Soleil." Siraj replied, his eyes turning soft.

"Everyone says that until they find themselves in situation where they do."

"Well..." he trailed off once again, licking over his lips. "I'll just show you then," he shrugged, a half smile growing onto her face.

The taxi finally came to a stop in front of Siraj's hotel, he paid the fare before both got out, Siraj slipping his backpack on while holding onto the overnight bag that Selah loaned to Soleil for the night. They walked into the lobby, the concierge shooting them a lighthearted smile.

They stepped onto the elevator, pressing the button to Siraj's floor. Soleil wrapped her arms around his torso, resting her head against his chest. Through the mirrors that were built on the sides, Soleil cockily grinned to herself.

"Whatchu' grinning for?" Siraj raised an eyebrow, noticing her facial expression.

"I got the nigga everybody want, biiitch!" she sang, sticking her tongue out. Siraj laughed, wrapping his arms around her.

The elevator dinged, the doors sliding open. The pair stepped off and walked down the hall towards his room, he pulled out the key car and swiped it against the keypad before pushing open the door, letting Soleil walk in first.

He flicked on the lights, taking off his backpack. As Soleil walked deeper into the room, a huge smile graced her face, her eyes lighting up in excitement.