Lines Between Us Novels & Stories

Every breath between us filled the air with more questions I wasn’t sure I wanted answers to. He slid in next to me, tossed his jacket onto the back seat, and started the engine. Neither of us said anything for a full minute. I watched the streetlights blur as we drove. One after the other, flickering against the windshield like a heartbeat I couldn’t name. The question kept rising in me, quiet and poisonous. What is this? What were we doing? Were we hooking up? Dating? Something in-between? And did he know, or was he just riding whatever wave we were caught in, leaving the labels behind like they didn’t matter?

“I don’t want to do this, please don’t make me.” The fear in my voice is palpable. The tension in the room can be cut with a knife. Beads of sweat run down the side of my face and down my neck. I move to wipe it off and then remember the all too familiar liquid that coats my hand like a second skin. Blood. Looking up into the night sky, the stars seem to twinkle, unaware of the turmoil I face. Suddenly a wave of bitterness washes over me. Why do I always have to play the fool? With an angry grunt I swing the knife down. Red explodes into the night. Dangerous and beautiful, my new favorite color.

A Small Mistake Near the boards, the new surface reached a painted line. For a moment, it hesitated. Then it pushed forward— and erased it. Not cracked. Not covered. Gone. The blue line simply ceased to exist in that small section. Jake’s expression hardened. “Okay. That’s a problem.” Finn flinched. “It didn’t mean to…” Liam nodded. “It doesn’t know what to keep.” Drawing the Line Alex stepped forward, his voice steady. “Then we show it.” Finn looked up. “How?”

I held the strips out toward them, my eyes squeezed shut. "I don't want to look at this," I said, my voice trembling. "Take them. You look. Just tell me how many lines there are. One line or two." Rex was the first to move. He took the strips from my hand carefully, his fingers brushing mine. He held them up to the light, his face intensely focused. "Yeah," Rex said, nodding slowly. "One line. It’s one line." I felt a massive wave of relief wash over me. My shoulders dropped. I let out a long, shaky breath.

“Whether you want to admit it or not.” His expression tightens. “That’s not how I see it.” “That doesn’t mean it’s not real.” A pause. Then— “I can’t do this if it’s going to turn into that every time,” I say. “Do what?” “This,” I repeat. “Us.” The word hangs between us. Fragile. Breaking. And for the first time— I see it. The crack. Not just in him. But in us. “I’m not saying I don’t want you,” I add quickly.

I nudged his shoulder with mine, he nudged back. Then we bent over the notebook together, close enough that our elbows brushed every time we shifted in our spots. Neither of us apologized, nor did we pull away. And when it happened again, neither of us pretended not to notice. The next time our arms touched, River didn’t look down at the notebook. He looked at me. The teasing smile was gone. In its place was something open and uncertain, something that made the air between us feel slightly suffocating. “Hey, Sky?”

On Julian Sterling’s birthday, Zara Xavier secretly traveled six hours to his city to surprise him. She knew he had been eyeing a limited-edition watch, one of only a few in the world, so she arranged to meet a college student in person to buy it. When the girl arrived, Zara was surprised to see that she was pregnant. She was still in college, but her belly was already quite large. She was well into her third trimester. “Hi, I’m Zoey Ramsey. You’re the one who wanted the watch, right?” Zoey pulled the watch out of its original box and handed it to Zara as if it were no big deal. Zara happily took it. “Yes, this is the one. My husband really likes it. Ms. Ramsey, how much are you asking

Ezekiel whispered softly into her hair, pressing a deep, tender kiss against her temple. ​Sienna leaned back against him, closing her eyes as a profound sense of relief washed over her heart. "My father's name is cleared. Our son is safe. We can finally live in peace." ​Ezekiel turned her around in his arms, looking down into her eyes with an intensity of love that made her heart race. He cupped her cheeks in his hands, leaning down to press a deep, passionate kiss against her lips that sealed their victory and their eternal devotion. ​As they pulled back, smiles gracing their faces, Secretary Yang suddenly walked onto the terrace, holding an encrypted satellite communicator that was buzzing

“Welcome to my world.” He shakes his head, still looking baffled. “Okay, hold on. Show me a picture.” I blink. “A picture?” “Yeah,” he says, leaning forward on his elbows. “If she’s been telling everyone we’re together, I want to see who she even is.” I laugh again, but I pull out my phone. “Fine. But don’t freak out.” “I’m already freaking out.” I scroll through the team photos until I find one from last season — the whole group lined up on the ice. Sabrina is front and center, smiling like she owns the world.

I blew gently on the blue ink to make sure it wouldn't smudge, capped my pen, and placed it neatly beside my notebook. Then, keeping my eyes locked straight onto his, I slid the heavy textbook slowly across the polished wooden table right back toward his side. Leo reached down and took the book. He turned it toward himself, his eyes dropping to read the single line I had written beneath his threat. As his eyes scanned my words, the muscle in his right cheek gave a hard, visible twitch. The icy distance in his posture shattered, replaced by a sudden, raw surge of fury that made his dark eyes flash dangerously.