جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 320

Chapter One: Sore Tires   The truck lurched violently, metal groaning as a sharp bang exploded from underneath. One tire blew first, then the second—rubber shredding against the scorching asphalt in a vicious hiss.   The whole rig shuddered and swerved hard to the right. The driver cursed through clenched teeth, thick arms flexing as he wrestled the wheel, fighting to keep us from flipping.   Gravel crunched under the rims when he finally muscled the truck onto the shoulder. Dust billowed up in a choking red cloud, swirling around the cab before settling in the merciless midday heat.   Middle of nowhere. No other vehicles in sight, no houses, no shade—just endless dry scrub, cracked earth, and a sky so bright it hurt to look at.   I was rid

Chapter one: Under the disco light.   I spotted Louis the second I walked into the gym. The prom decorations were everywhere: silver streamers hanging from the ceiling, blue and purple lights spinning slowly across the walls, a cheap disco ball throwing dots of light over everyone’s faces. The bass from the speakers thumped hard enough to rattle my ribcage. I wore a short silver dress that barely reached mid-thigh and silver heels that made my legs look longer than they really were. At four-foot-nine, I still looked tiny next to almost everyone, but Louis never made me feel small in a bad way.   He stood near the punch table in a black suit that fit him too well. Six-foot-four. Broad shoulders. Dark hair pushed back. When he saw me his mouth curved into that slow, wicked grin that always made my stomach flip.   He walked straight to me. D

 Mia’s POV   The air around the table is anything but quaint. What the hell did we pay the $1,200 bill for?   I sit beside Grayson, forking reasonable portions of food into my mouth, and smiling only when I am spoken to. The every other time, my face looks like what you’d imagine a graveyard to be if it was a person.   That’s not me being dramatic. It’s the natural reaction to hearing drastic amounts of money being tossed down the drain.   “$3.3 million went to marketing last year alone, Harvey. If that doesn’t show dedication, then I don’t know what will,” my husband tries to control the ruckus with a firm tone.   Of course, you wouldn’t know it’s a ruckus since fine-dining would

Chapter One - Father, forgive me. I slept with a priest. Zoey’s POV   “Peace be unto you, child,” comes the voice of a man I’m sure is not up to five years older than me. I always considered it mundane - the whole “calling priests ‘father’” thing. I mean, can’t we just say, “Priest” It didn’t matter, though, because what I want to say has been a weight on my shoulder for three years. And now, that weight is getting unbearable. Or so I think. “Bless me, father, for I have sinned,” There is silence for a while as the priest offers a short prayer. He then looks up, and I can’t see much, but he has plump, pink lips, slightly shrouded by a blonde moustache and beard. I swallow a lump.

 Diana‘s POV I hear it before I even get my key in the door. The same thing I heard yesterday morning before work, and the same thing I came home to last Tuesday, and the Wednesday before that.    A rhythmic, enthusiastic declaration of someone else's good time, bleeding right through the ceiling of apartment 4B like the building's insulation was installed by someone who genuinely did not care.   I drop my bag on the floor, stand in the middle of my living room, and listen to it for a full ten seconds. Then I go to the window, lean out, and yell up at the floor above me with the full force of a woman who is genuinely exhausted from everything life has thrown at her.   "Vlad! Some of us are trying to have a peaceful evening!" There's a bri