MILES "I can't believe this!" My mother stormed into the dining area Friday evening, her phone shaking in her hand. Dominic and I had just finished being fitted for our wedding attire for tomorrow and were now waiting for dinner. "It's going to rain!" she sobbed, her voice shrill with disbelief. "Our venue is outside! We can't get married in the rain!" I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing. "Oh honey," Maverick said, already up and moving toward her, his touch gentle as he smoothed his hands over her arms. "We can just move the wedding inside. The Ballroom Plaza has a beautiful venue with an elegant touch." My mother began to cry into his chest, but I knew it wasn’t real devastation. It was frustration that things weren’t going exactly how she wanted. It was pride wounded. I didn’t even bother hiding my smirk. Until Dominic bumped my shoulder. I shot him a glare, and he subtly shook his head, his eyes saying be nice. I mouthed, What? He narrowed his g
MILES Marcus was away for the weekend. He had texted me several times Saturday morning, apologizing for not being here to "keep an eye on me." I called him immediately. "Hello?" He sounded surprised. "Marcus." "Yes?" "It is not your job to protect me." There was silence for a beat. I could practically hear him debating whether to argue. I honestly didn’t know how to feel about him knowing everything. He tried not to show it, but I could see the way he looked at my mother—with empty smiles and eyes full of restrained indignation. It reminded me of Kenzie. The first time Kenzie found out, I had to threaten never speaking to her again. I almost lost her over it. She had been livid, ready to fight, ready to expose everything—but she didn’t. Not because she forgave my mother, but because I told her she’d lose me if she did. I wasn’t protecting my mother. I was protecting myself. I had no idea how far my mother would go. And now, Marcus was toeing the same dangerous lin
DOM Miles seemed nervous. That was new. She sat on the island, her back straight, her fingers subtly picking at her nails while I iced her shoulder. She never fidgeted. She never hesitated when she wanted something. But now? She wouldn’t even look at me. I stood between her legs, resting one hand next to her hip. I was definitely this close on purpose, but she still didn’t meet my eyes. Instead, she turned her head away, baring her throat to me. The sight made my mouth dry. Made my fingers twitch against the ice pack. It was fucking killing me. I wanted to bury my face there, in that perfect dip between her neck and shoulder. Wanted to bite, to mark her. I could see the goosebumps rising on her arms, the way her pulse fluttered too fast. She felt this. I exhaled slowly. "Are you mad?" She still didn't look at me. "Why would I be mad?" I studied her, watching the way she still wouldn’t meet my gaze. "Did I tease you too much?" I asked, dropping the ice pack to the counter. S
*WARNING EXPLICIT SEXUAL CONTENT * MILES "I need you." A shiver rolled down my spine at the sound of his voice—low, rough, barely restrained. His hands rested firm on my thighs, his fingers skimming the hem of my shirt like he was trying to stop himself from tearing it off. I swallowed, my pulse hammering against my ribs. "Is this what you brought me in here for?" My voice was steady, but I knew he could hear the breathlessness creeping in. "Got a library fantasy you need to live out?" Dom exhaled a slow chuckle, his thumbs stroking soft circles against my inner thighs. "No." His lips brushed my temple, and his hands inched higher. "I figured you'd like it. But now?" His mouth moved lower, grazing the shell of my ear. "Now I want something else." I clenched my thighs around his hands, the heat pooling between them unbearable. "And what's that?" His breath ghosted against my skin. "I want you to read to me." I blinked. "What?" "Pick up your book." He leaned
DOM Marcus knew something. MARCUS: Stay around lil sis this weekend, hm? That was a strange request. First my dad, and now Marcus? I mean, I was already planning to be with Miles this entire weekend. Our parents wouldn’t be back until Tuesday, so I planned to get well acquainted with her. Were my intentions entirely pure? No. Absolutely not. I was going to try and fuck her in as many places in the manor as I could. DOM: Why? I had to figure out what he knew. Marcus wasn’t one to hide things from me—but that didn’t mean he couldn’t. He was a master at keeping secrets, only revealing them when it suited him. MARCUS: Just don’t leave her alone with those love birds. She told me their PDA is gross. Our parents? Strange. DOM: They’re gone until Tuesday. MARCUS: Oh… then just watch over her, will ya? I frowned at the screen. Was he… falling for her? I almost scoffed. The idea was absurd. He knew we were fucking. But then again… that’s all we were doing, wasn’t i
DOM Miles was getting fucked up. Like, real fucked up. Just twenty minutes ago, she was ready to leave. Now she was in the middle of a beer pong tournament, completely wrecking everyone, but also getting shit-faced in the process. I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. I should have told her I didn’t want to come. Why the fuck did I agree to this? ‘Because you’re turning into a kiss-ass,’ my own brain mocked. ‘Oh, fuck you.’ Another deep sigh. She had me arguing with myself now. Miles swayed on her feet, her lazy smile making her look both adorable and wildly reckless. Her gray eyes were glazed over, and her movements were a little too loose. It had only been twenty fucking minutes. Her friend Kenzie threw me a smug, knowing glance as she wrapped an arm around Miles' shoulders. I frowned. Then—the cherry on top. Kenzie kissed her on the cheek. Miles—drunk as fuck—held her kissed cheek like it was something sacred, her face lighting up before she grabbed Kenzie's chin
MILES "Something is telling me I shouldn't tell you," I teased, my voice thick with playful mischief. Dominic stepped closer, drawn in like a moth to my flame. "I can keep a secret." I dragged my fingers over the silky-soft comforter, shifting on the bed as I watched Dom. He stood by the door like a man barely keeping himself from running for his life. It made me smile. I was tipsy—floaty, warm—but my mind was clear enough to see how he reacted to me. How he always reacted to me. I was in control here. And I liked it. He had just asked me what I thought about him. Dangerous question. He should know better. I rolled onto my stomach, propping my chin up with my hand, letting my eyes rake over him like he was something delicious I was starving for. Which he was. "When I think about you?" I hummed, pressing my lips together like I had to consider it. Dom’s jaw ticked. He ran a hand down his face, exhaling through his nose like he already regretted asking. Good
MILES It was so damn hot. And heavy. Something was on top of me. My eyes popped open, and I groaned as the throbbing in my skull made itself known. A muffled, "Not yet," was heard above my head. What the fuck? My first thought was Oh no, did I bring some guy home? Panic crept up my spine. Dom would kill me. No—Maverick would be disappointed, which was somehow worse. And my mother? She would annihilate me. I wiggled my arms free from my blanket—only to realize I was trapped under a very warm, very muscular arm. My heart nearly stopped. Slowly, I turned my head and—Oh. Relief flooded me. It was Dominic. His sleeping face was unfairly gorgeous, his dark lashes casting shadows over his cheekbones, his full lips slightly parted, hair messy and soft. But there was something else—something I couldn't ignore. His brows were drawn together, like he was still frowning in his sleep. I reached up before I could stop myself and pressed a gentle finger between them, massaging the little
MILES Lunch was over way too quickly. The second Dominic and I stepped out of the library, the stares returned like they'd been waiting for us. Silent, sharp. Hungry. Added by the whispers. "Think she's the jumper?" "What kind of psycho jumps off a cliff unless they’re trying to die?" It shouldn't have bothered me. And it didn’t. Not really. But the attention? The spotlight? That made my skin crawl. The worst part was that Dom looked like he was barely holding it together. His jaw ticked every few steps. His hand twitched at his side like he wanted to grab mine. Like maybe that would ground him. Or maybe it would ground me. It didn’t even matter what they said. They were going to talk. They were going to look. Not because of me. Not just because of me. But because of him. Dominic Black. The golden boy, the prince of the campus—was hovering over the broken girl who looked an awful lot like the one who jumped off a fucking cliff. Earlier in class, I heard people whis
KENNY Miles acted like nothing had happened. Like she hadn’t unraveled in my arms. Like she hadn’t called my name with my hands on her skin, my mouth against her throat. Like she hadn’t begged me to make her feel something. And fine. I could play along. But I wasn’t stupid. The way her fingers hesitated sometimes when she reached for something. The way her gaze flickered, just for a second, when I got too close. The way her lips parted when I made her laugh, like she had almost forgotten she could. She hadn’t forgotten. I could tell my the way her cheeks would flush when my hand brushed hers. She was pretending. And I let her. I still made her coffee the way she liked it. I still teased her when she got flustered. I still called her Mimi, just to see the corner of her mouth twitch in that almost smile. She never pulled away. Never put space between us. But I knew where the line was. And I never crossed it. Until today. I was behind the counter at the diner, wipi
*WARNING EXPLICIT SEXUAL CONTENT* KENNY "You can't take it from me," she whispered. Her voice curled around my ribs. Tangled in my lungs. "But you can give me something else." My throat bobbed. “Miles—” “Something to feel.” And there went my self-control. Miles barely had time to breathe before my hands were on her—gripping her waist, yanking her against me. My mouth crashed against hers, and she took it. Took everything I gave like she had been starving for it. A low moan hummed from her throat, vibrating against my lips, and fuck—I was already gone. I had wanted to kiss her for days. Wanted to feel her. Wanted to take away her pain. Her fingers slipped into my hair, nails scraping my scalp, pulling, tugging, making me groan into her mouth. “Kenny,” she breathed, and I felt it. Felt her heat. Her desperation. The way she arched into me like she wanted to climb inside me, crawl under my skin and stay there. I grabbed her thigh, hoisting it up, pressing my k
KENNY Her eyes were hauntingly beautiful. A storm in a purple sky. Lavenders on a cloudy day. Such beautiful damn eyes. If only they held a little bit of light in them. I remembered the first time she walked into the diner. It was late afternoon, the kind of heat that clung to your skin like a second layer. I thought she was a customer at first, so I grabbed a menu and made my way over, only for her to throw her hands up, a nice coral blush tinting her ears. “Oh, I don’t have any money,” she said, biting her lip. “I saw the help wanted sign and wanted to apply.” Her hair was windblown, strands sticking to her forehead from sweat, and she smelled like the sun… and honey. It wasn’t perfume—just her. Fresh, a little wild, like she had been running through an open field before stepping in. I should’ve said something. Anything. Instead, my brain short-circuited as I followed a single bead of sweat trailing down her freckled cheek, over the curve of her jaw, disappearing beneath the
MILESDominic met my stare with something unreadable in his golden eyes. Even as I pulled him closer, still, he held back."Scared?" I dared, knowing he liked a good challenge.But instead of that knowing smirk—the one with those delicious dimples—he inhaled through his nose and gently pulled my hand from his shirt. He stepped back until he was leaning on the nearby bookshelf.I had expected him to come stomping into the library like a storm barely leashed, dragging his rage with him. I had expected his sharp tongue, his impatient sighs, his suffocating protectiveness that had only gotten worse since I woke up in the hospital.What I hadn’t expected… was this.Silence.Now, he stood in front of me, hands shoved into the pockets of his jacket, jaw tight, eyes stormy. I had chosen the farthest, most secluded corner of the library to eat my lunch, but of course, he found me anyway.Of course, he did.I swallowed my last bite of an apple and leaned back against my chair, resting my good a
MILES Maybe I thought I would be prepared to return to university. Maybe I believed that after everything, walking these halls would be easy. I had decided to go despite myself, just to prove a point. That I wasn’t weak. But that weakness crawled out from the dirt I buried it in as soon as I entered my first class. I had spent the morning in the library, hidden in the quiet while Dom and Marcus were at practice. It was the first time in weeks I had been truly alone—no watchful eyes, no questions, no hovering hands. Just silence. Then, I left. And as soon as I walked—no, limped—into my first class, the whispers started. You would think the stares were because of the brace on my ankle, the sling keeping my shoulder in place. But no. It was because Dominic Black had his hand on my waist, his grip steady as he helped me to my seat. "Who the hell is she?" Someone whispered. "Why does she seem so close to three of the hottest guys in school?" "She’s probably fucking them." "No,
DOM I felt like a fucking puppy. Following Miles around like gum on her ass. If she went to her room, I hung out in the hall. If she went to the library, that’s where you’d find me. And now? Now, I was leaning against the wall outside her bedroom door at four in the damn morning on a Monday. Fucking ridiculous. She had insisted on going back to school. Much to my—and my father’s—dismay. “Miles,” I’d said, already knowing I was wasting my breath, “you don’t need to—” “I’ve rested long enough, Dominic.” I hadn’t even argued. Not really. Because fuck, it felt good to hear her say my name. She was here. She was breathing. She could have whatever she wanted. As long as she wanted. Even if it meant standing here, waiting for her stubborn ass to open the door— The lock clicked, and Miles stepped out, limping. I let her get three steps before I reached behind me and revealed the wheelchair. She stopped. Looked at it. Then at me. Yeah, she was pissed. “Yeah, n
MILESThe first thing I noticed was how empty my arm felt.For weeks, the IV had been a part of me, a tether keeping me here. But now, as Nurse Hilda carefully slid it from my skin, I was free."You’re all set, sugar," she said, her warm hands smoothing over my arm, gentle in a way that made something tighten in my chest.I had gotten used to her voice—her presence. Hilda was the only reason my mother didn’t have more time alone with me. Every visit, every lingering moment where Candice might have tried to poke and prod at my weakness, Hilda would swoop in, checking vitals, fluffing pillows, telling long-winded stories about her family.And I had let her.Because I knew what she was doing.And I liked her for it.She smiled as she set aside the IV. "I sure will miss those gorgeous eyes of yours, sweetheart. You remind me of my brother, you know. He’s got dark hair too."I blinked.A strange pull tightened in my gut, something like a whisper of familiarity. "Oh?"Hilda’s grin was all s
MILESDid this happen to all survivors?Did they wake up feeling like a new person? Like they’d been reborn?I thought maybe I’d be disappointed.The surprise?I wasn’t disappointed at all.I was relieved.Opening my eyes, seeing everyone… it made me so relieved.At first, I didn’t know why. But then my mother hugged me.Tears streamed down her face like she was glad I had made it. Like she wouldn’t have known what to do without me.And maybe that much was true.But I wasn’t going to be her punching bag anymore. I wanted to be something else to her. Something much closer to her heart than she had ever allowed me to be.I was going to be her pain.I was going to be her suffering.But most of all…I was going to be her weakness.---"You fucking bitch!"Kenzie’s voice snapped through the air like a gunshot.She took a shuddering breath, setting down the cup of coffee that I guessed had been for me before she crossed the room, murder in her eyes."I want to fucking hate you right now," s