I’d never been hot for my professor, but Vincent’s lips around my trifle sent a chill down my spine.ShaunaSetting up a little pop-up table in front of The Paper Realm bookstore had been a way to get in some new customers for my baking business and celebrate today’s tiny holiday.Halfway through the day, though, Vincent stopped by my table.They were tall and academic, with a narrow waist and a long coat, looking every...

For Judd Shaw, a medically retired Army Ranger, a quiet life managing his schizophrenia is all he wants. His only anchor is Boris, his fiercely loyal Bull Terrier. When he and his friends get an exclusive invite to beta test a revolutionary new AI-driven virtual tabletop game, it seems like the perfect, safe way to spend a night in.But the moment they click "play," they aren't just logging in. They're physically abducted.Now trapped in a brutal fantasy world where death is ...

The day I received my acceptance email from UCLA, I saw a photo on Instagram: my younger sister, Vivienne, kissing my boyfriend, Tomas, captioned "Kings Game Night." Tomas brushed it off—"I lost a game, so I had to kiss her." It wasn't the first time. A year ago, I'd watched my first love, Marco, kiss Vivienne too, and I fell apart so badly I bombed my SATs.Back then, Tomas had torn up his own NYU acceptance letter in front of me and said, "Delphine, I've liked you since we were ki...

A year ago, my car died in a freezing rain, and Ryan, my boyfriend of seven years, promised he'd call a tow truck. It never came. A semi sideswiped my car, sending glass into my hand; a state trooper found me with hypothermia.I didn't learn the truth until the Whitmores' annual dinner, when Avery—the girl my family had taken in—played a secretly recorded video. They had canceled the tow truck on purpose, gathering around Ryan's phone just to hear how long it took before "Claire, wh...

One mistake that turns into something sweet…KaylaYou’d think I would know better than buying a horror book, but it was only five dollars, and a date with myself in the park reading a new book sounded perfect.But then I met Jack, who accidentally scared me out of my wits by simply saying hello.There are two ice creams in his hands, and I can’t say no when he offers me one.Could this be the start of a new chap...

In the German election of February 2025, thirty-seven per cent of women aged eighteen to twenty-four voted for Die Linke. Among young men of the same age the strongest single party was the AfD. Britain in 2024 gave the same reading in a different alphabet. Young women are moving left, young men right, and the gap between them is wider than at any point in the life of anyone now under forty.The pollsters have a phrase for this, a generational gender realignment, and a picture to car...

This sapphic meet cute turned into a sticky disaster!EzTo celebrate Waffle Day in Aria Falls, I forced my best friend/business partner to turn our Sweet Treats food truck into a one-day-only waffle truck!It was all well and good until I saw a beautiful girl and tripped over my own dropped jaw, sending a syrupy mess all over the freckled redhead.That’ll put a damper on the date I wanted to ask her on.Stic...

Where festive treats and sparks of romance collide to make a spicy and fun holiday quartet!Taste of the HolidaysMy nephew’s dad left my nephew and my sister, and now I’m determined to make this holiday season the best they’ve ever had. I know I can’t replace his dad, but I can be the best aunt and sister they could want or need.That means taking them to things like this gingerbread competition for families.At least, until they decid...

Winter is coming, and these theater friends find themselves falling into their own love stories amidst the snowfall of the winter months, starting from the frost coating the fall leaves through the wild snow storms of January.Between Friends and LoversAfter years of confronting and eventually accepting my asexuality, the last thing I thought would happen would be kissing my best friend.No, the LAST thing I thought would happen is that kissi...

Years of one night stands never stood a chance against one night in the back of McCrea’s car.LexAfter Thursday’s hockey game gone wrong, I needed a night with someone that was filled with fun and burning off the pain in my shoulder.What I didn’t expect was McCrea, who stepped in when a guy got too handsy at the bar.McCrea was hot as sin, with hazel eyes and a dorky shirt that I wanted to tear to pieces.We go...

Never take a sample from a stranger…CrystalI’m on the final day of Aria Falls’ Bagel Festival, and I have my aim directed right at those Sunday-exclusive bagel sampler booths. I want a blackout bingo for the sampler punch card, there’s nothing that will stand in my way.Except him, it seems.Jerome eats half my bagel samples, teases me, and even flirts with me. But I find that somehow, I’m not upset at it. I want more...

Nothing Happened to Me—Until It DidBy Sabrina EchoSometimes, the most dangerous secrets are the ones we keep from ourselves.We spend years building a life, carefully curating our stories and perfecting our masks. We convince ourselves that as long as we keep the shadows at bay, the truth won't be able to define us. We tell ourselves: Nothing happened to me.Until it does....