MasukRAIN AND LEATHER{Playlist Suggestion: "Earned It" by The Weeknd / "I See Red" by Everybody Loves An Outlaw}~CHELSEA POV~The storm hit the city less than an hour after he hung up the phone on me, the thunder banging the thin, cheap windows of my apartment so hard I thought the glass was going to shatter inward.I couldn't sleep, I couldn't even close my eyes because my blood was practically boiling under my skin, buzzing with the echo of his voice and the dark, terrifying promise he had made right before the line went dead. I threw the thin blanket off my legs and walked over to the window, wrapping my arms around my chest as I stared out at the torrential downpour flooding the cracked streets of my neighborhood.And then I saw it.Parked halfway down the block, sitting under a flickering orange streetlight like a shadow that didn't belong, was a huge, sleek black car that cost more than this entire zip code.My heart literally stopped beating in my chest.He hadn't stayed at his p
LATE NIGHT STATIC{Playlist Suggestion: "I Wanna Be Yours" by Arctic Monkeys / "Call Out My Name" by The Weeknd}~CHELSEA POV~The glowing red numbers on my cheap digital alarm clock said it was 2:14 AM, but it felt like I had been staring at the cracked paint on my bedroom ceiling for a hundred years.The apartment was completely dead silent, except for the faint, steady sound of Chase's breathing coming from the other room.Which should have been comforting to me since he was finally home and actually healthy, but instead the quiet was just leaving too much room for the thoughts I was desperately trying to run away from.I rolled onto my side, tangling my legs in the thin bedsheets, and stared at my cell phone resting on the floor next to my mattress.I was supposed to be a good person. I was supposed to be the loyal, loving girlfriend who was standing by Kade while he recovered from a devastating surgery that was basically my fault, but every time I closed my eyes, I didn't see Ka
THE PULL{Playlist Suggestion: "traitor" by Olivia Rodrigo / "Glimpse of Us" by Joji}~CHELSEA POV~I was sitting on the edge of Kade's bed in Knox's townhouse, staring at the black brace locking his leg in place, and I felt like the absolute worst human being to ever walk the earth.He was tracing the knuckles of my right hand with his thumb, his green eyes looking at me with this soft, completely unguarded adoration that made me want to throw up from the sheer, crushing guilt of it all. I was trying so hard to be the perfect girlfriend, nodding and smiling while he talked about his physical therapy schedule and how Denver was holding the team together, but my brain was just screaming at me the entire time.Liar. Fraud. Traitor."You know, once I get this brace downgraded to a sleeve, we should actually go somewhere," Kade was saying, his voice raspy but hopeful, completely oblivious to the war going on inside my head."Just you and me, Chels. Maybe drive up the coast for a weekend.
CODE RED{Playlist Suggestion: "Monster" by Starset / "Let Me Down Slowly" by Alec Benjamin}~KOLT POV~I wasn't even supposed to be looking at the security feeds because I had spent the last two days trying to convince myself that I could actually operate like a normal human being and keep my distance from her. But my eyes automatically flicked to the monitor for the main floor just out of habit, and the second I registered who was standing by the bar, the blood in my veins literally turned to ice.Reed Mitchell.Antonio was giving him a walkthrough because my father was still trying to appease the Mitchell family for some upcoming real estate merger, but that wasn't what made my heart completely stop beating in my chest.It was the girl standing ten feet away from him, squeezing a plastic bag like a shield, her face draining of color so fast she looked like a ghost on the grainy black-and-white camera feed.Chelsea wasn't supposed to be here during the day, she was supposed to be s
THE TRIGGER{Playlist Suggestion: "Saturn" by Sleeping At Last / "bury a friend" by Billie Eilish}CHELSEA POVI walked into The Mirage through the back service entrance on Thursday afternoon, the metal door shutting behind me with a loud, echoing clank that made me jump, because I had finally made the absolute, non-negotiable decision to quit.The club smelled completely different during the day....just a depressing mixture of industrial bleach, stale beer, and cold air conditioning....and I kept my head down as I walked straight to the employee locker room, terrified that Kolt might actually be in the building even though Antonio had sent out a memo saying the executive offices were closed until the evening.I just couldn't do it anymore.I couldn't keep pretending that I was okay, I couldn't keep looking at Kade's sweet, trusting face while the memory of my bare back pressed against his brother's desk burned through my mind on a continuous, shameful loop. I was toxic, I was ruini
THE CONFRONTATION{Playlist Suggestion: "Blood // Water" by grandson / "The Night We Met" by Lord Huron}~KADE POV~I shouldn't have been driving, and I definitely shouldn't have been putting my full weight on my reconstructed knee as I dragged myself out of the Uber in front of The Mirage.But I literally could not sit in Knox's empty townhouse for one more single second while my brain replayed the image of Chelsea crying in the hallway with her clothes torn to pieces.The club was closed to the public since it was barely three in the afternoon, the neon signs switched off and the glass doors locked.But I still had my Kingston access card in my wallet, and I swiped it against the scanner with a shaking hand until the light flashed green and the door clicked open.The main floor smelled like musty alcohol, cleaning products, and bad decisions, completely stripped of all its glamorous nighttime magic.And I didn't stop to talk to the daytime cleaning crew who stared at me as I swung m
A GOOD COMPANY{Playlist suggestion: "The Best I ever had" by Limi}~THIRD PERSON POV~The ride was very quiet, making every blink seem loud. The city was half-awake, with neon signs flashing like sleepy eyes. Chelsea sat in the passenger seat, looking out the window, her reflection pale in the gla
BROKEN{Playlist suggestion: "Hopeless" by Always Never}~CHELSEA POV~{TW: THE SCENE CONTAINS ABUSE AND VIOLENCE, READERS' DISCRETION}The room felt like it wavered sideways, the smell of sweat and sex and cigarettes all hitting me at once. My scream hung in the air, sharp enough to cut through th
BROTHER'S KEEPER{Playlist suggestion: "Roundtown" Adrian Daniel, Asiah}~KADE'S POV~The leather seat made a noise as Kolt drove fast down the road, with bright lights shining behind us. I leaned back, crossing my arms, my jaw hurting from being clenched too long. My knuckles throbbed with each h
ALL I SEE IS YOU {Playlist suggestion: "247" by David Correy}~KADE'S POV~"Fuck, Chelsea... God, I can't stop thinking about your fucking mouth."The hot water sluices over my shoulders, so damn hot it almost burns, but it's nothing compared to the fire in my gut. My fist is already wrapped aroun







