Merry Christmas Hug

The summer that Allison Hart graduates from high school, she has one thing on her mind- to lose her virginity before she goes away to college in the fall. The only problem is she doesn’t want a random one night stand with a stranger. So when her stepbrother James Carter comes home for the summer, it seems like her problem finally has a solution. At first James is apprehensive about the entire thing, but then gives in to Allison’s request. They both swear that it will be just a weekend of sex and fun, but then the weekend turns into an entire summer of sneaky sex. As the summer comes to a close and both prepare to go off to college, both realize that they have fallen in love with each other. Neither of them are brave enough to tell the other, so they go off to college, both confused about their situation. When they finally reunite for Christmas, James confesses his feelings for Ali and asks her to run away and travel the world with him. She accepts and once school ends for the summer, they run off to start their adventure.

When my body is engulfed in flames, my firefighter father is watching a new movie with my sister. My mother is baking them a cake. I hear laughter in the living room, and I can smell the caramel popcorn in the kitchen. Today is my family's weekly family day—it's a day for my sister and parents to be with each other. The doorbell rings, and the perpetrator gives me a chance to ask for help. My limbs are bound, and stones fill my mouth. I stand at the door and desperately wait for my parents to open it. They don't get up. Instead, they sit on either side of my sister and hug her. "We promised you we'll only be with you on our family days. No one can disturb us." "What if it's Danica?" Ravenna Sutton, my sister, asks. "Her? She hasn't answered her phone in days—who knows where she's off being wild? I'll think of her as dead if she still doesn't return tomorrow!" Ravenna giggles. Mom feeds her some popcorn, and Dad discusses the movie's plot with her. The perpetrator drags me back upstairs and laughs mockingly in my ear. "Looks like I did something unnecessary. They genuinely don't care about you." Smoke permeates every corner upstairs, and the flames start to lick at my body. Mom and Dad protect Ravenna as they run downstairs. They have no idea their birth daughter is screaming in pain amid the blazing fire.

"Lyra, please trust me. I am here for you". His voice echoed in my ears. I trust you. I wanted to tell him but it felt like I no longer could talk. He came near the place I was standing and I did not move. I wanted to hug him and make him believe that I wanted him more than I wanted myself. He pulled me closer to him and engulfed me in his chest and I knew I couldn't hold back. My tears wetted his Armani suit while his constant love made me realise how selfish I had become. ~~~~ Lyra had grown up locked by a bad-tempered man. He made sure to make her believe that she is nothing but a worthless human. She plans her escape. After she escaped, she met a handsome and rich savior and became attached to him. But she soon found the truth was beyond her imagination when he told her that she is Lyra Walton, the long lost hidden daughter of the world's first richest family, a girl who was declared dead at five. Lorenzo Rothschild, CEO of Schilds industries, a billionaire renowned for his cruelty in the business circles, saved an innocent girl just because he needed her to make a deal. Never did he foresee that she would be the love of his life. Would Lyra choose to trust Lorenzo? Would they defeat all difficulties and come closer? Read and find out.

On the day the gauze was removed from my eyes, I joked that I was blind. "Don't be afraid if you can't see. I'll take care of you my entire life." My husband and best friend took care of me while I was in the hospital. They sincerely made that promise to me. However, when we got home, all three of us were on the same bed. My best friend rode on top of my husband breathlessly. They were caught up in their intimacy as they thought I could not see. My best friend was worried I would suspect something and spoke up to eliminate any suspicion. "Uhh… Summer, I'm just giving your husband a massage." I was so disgusted that I wanted to throw up, but I held myself back. Once they were done, I was about to find an excuse to leave the room when my five-year-old suddenly ran in. "I miss you so much, Mom!" Hearing that warmed my heart, and I opened my arms to hug him, but he ran past me and lay down next to my best friend instead. The 'happy family of three' were all smiles and threw me looks of disgust. I could no longer tolerate this. When I called my lawyer, I told him to bring me the divorce papers. If they wanted to become a family so badly, I would make their wish come true. I just did not know if my best friend could afford to earn a decent enough income to take care of my useless husband and son.

Adriana never thought she'd find herself here, standing at her ex’s wedding, pretending to be over him. Enzo, the love of her life, is about to marry someone else, and the hurt she thought she’d buried resurfaces in an instant. As he pulls her into a hug, her heart falters, his familiar touch feels like home. Five years apart, yet her feelings are still raw, and seeing him with Alicia, his polished fiancée, stabs deeper than she cares to admit. But Adriana's not alone. Zayn, Enzo's enigmatic brother, offers her an out, a "fake boyfriend" to shield her from the heartache of being the third wheel. What begins as a simple act of convenience spirals into something more intense, as their chemistry turns undeniably real. As secrets unravel and tensions rise, Adriana is forced to confront everything she's avoided for years, her unresolved feelings for Enzo, the fierce connection she feels with Zayn, and the raw vulnerability she’s terrified to embrace. When Zayn reveals his true intentions, Adriana’s world shatters. Is he just playing a game to make Enzo jealous? Or is there something deeper simmering between them? As the wedding weekend unfolds, passion, betrayal, and emotional battles blur the lines of love and revenge. With the stakes higher than ever, Adriana must choose: stay locked in her past with Enzo or take a risk on a future with Zayn, the man who could heal her heart or break it completely. Will Adriana choose to let go of the past and trust in a love she never saw coming?

It was all so very fast. One second he was talking, the next his head was lying on the floor beside him, detached from his body. She had ticked yet another box in his head. He heard her before he saw her, and he could genuinely say he wasn’t disappointed. She was strikingly beautiful, stunning, in fact. On closer view, he could see that she had a nice body to complement her beauty. For some reason, his wolf was jumping around at the sight of her. Considering his wolf was not a fan of anyone, it was a bit surprising. She stopped directly in front of him with her head bowed in respect to his title. He nodded in acceptance and gestured for her to raise her head. Their eyes met, and he could swear his entire world shook. He jolted forward, almost standing up from his throne as if to hug her. “Mate,” he said to her in his mind. She didn’t even flinch before responding, “You wish, pretty boy.” ................................................................................................................................................ In a realm where the divine essence of a goddess is tied with that of a mortal man, a mating occurs. A mating that births a wonder,a being that had never been seen before. A woman who was born to save and to destroy. The ethereal bloodline of the celestial deity, Selene, running through her mortal veins, making her into a radiant bridge between the realms where gods and humans collide. Born of the goddess Selene's bloodline, she's a celestial force to be aligned with. But with a mortal as a father, she's also a forbidden on both the mortal world and the immortal. Journey with the child of the Goddess in this story.

At a party, everyone sees Claire's joke. His fiance, chosen mate, walks past her with the ring and gets down on one knee in front of her stepsister. What the hell is going on here? "Joe and I are together now. Because we are each other's fated mates." Her stepsister said triumphantly. "We know you're hurting, but Cathy is your sister. You should bless them. Your sister will be the next luna, not you." Said her father coldly. In an instant, she changed from a happy girl to a poor person who had been abandoned and betrayed. "How dare you do this to me?" Desperate, she looked up and saw Prince Louis, who was also at the party. Although appealing directly to a member of the royal family would have been punishable, Claire had no choice. "Your Highness, I beg you to do justice and disinherit them. I claim my right." The crowd held their breath as they watched the murderous prince rumored to have killed his brother. He approached me with a dark look. I closed my eyes and waited for my punishment. But I felt big hands around my waist. He buried his head in my neck, took a deep breath, and said in a deep voice. "You are a very smart and brave girl. I can help you, but I want something else in return." I ran into a hug, his scent all around me. I didn't know, until this moment, that I was in even bigger trouble.

On Christmas Eve, my six-year-old, Yule, was dying from cancer, and all he wanted was a gift from his dad dressed as Santa. I called Peter, my husband, begging him to come. His reply? "Can you stop blowing up my phone? I don't have time for this! I'm helping Tracey find Puffy. Do you know how upset she is?" Oh, Tracey. His first love. And Puffy? Her dog. I told him Yule might not make it through the night. His response? A straight-up dagger: "Don't act like this isn't your fault, Freya. If Yule hadn't kicked Puffy, none of this would've happened. Tomorrow, make sure he apologizes to Tracey." Then he hung up. That night, I sat with Yule, crying as I helped him celebrate his last Christmas. By morning, Peter's social medias were still full of posts about that freaking dog. Mine? Yule's obituary. Ten years of marriage, gone.

Even before marrying Wayne Cooper, I knew he had a fierce sister-in-law. He would always tell me to never get into a fight with her. After we marry, we spend Christmas Eve at his parents' house for the first time. I'm forced to bustle around in the kitchen as I prepare a feast for over a dozen people. Meanwhile, Wayne's family lounges in the living room. They chatter away while enjoying the fruits I've washed and sliced. As I place the last dish on the table, Wayne's brother and sister-in-law, Kyle Cooper and Lucy Wren, arrive. When I want to take my seat, I discover there isn't one for me. That's when Lucy snorts and says sarcastically, "I heard you're a good wife who's obedient and easygoing, Melanie. I have to say that your cooking is… mediocre, though." This infuriates me. I'm about to retort when she turns to my mother-in-law. She says, "I think you should do the cooking from now on, Gloria. Your food is delicious…"

When I visit my girlfriend's house during the Christmas holidays, her cousin, Antonio Esposito, humiliates me in front of everyone because of a scar on the back of my hand. "This scar looks like a remnant of the crossfire with the mafia! Bianca, why did you think that bringing an ex-convict home was a good idea?" The entire Romano family stares at me in a mixture of horror and shock. My girlfriend, Bianco Romano, even shakes my hand off while staring at me in disgust. Not only does Antonio flip the table, but he also calls over a few hooligans in an attempt to take me to the local police station. "We must teach scumbags like him a lesson!" he declares. After that, Antonio and the hooligans strip off my jacket and strap me to the tree in the courtyard. They then attempt to force me to admit that I'm working for the mafia. I can only gnash my teeth together stubbornly, refusing to yield no matter what. What they don't know is that the scar is a medal from my time in a peacekeeping war as a soldier!