The Player Next Door

Rake disappeared from Ava's life the day of their anniversary celebration, and after years had passed, he resurfaced at her door asking for her help with a bullet wound on his side. He then left early the next morning and Ava thought he was gone for good, until an incident got her caught up in the other side of Rake's life that he had tried so hard to keep her out of, and now it was Rake's duty to protect Ava from the danger that she got involved in because of him.

On my wedding day, Ethan Westbrook's ex-girlfriend sent word that she was terminally ill. Her dying wish was to wear a wedding dress once in her life. Ethan locked me in the waiting room while he prepared to hold the ceremony with her instead of me to fulfill this wish. I heard his impatient voice through the door as he said to me, "Can't you show some compassion? She's dying. What's wrong with granting her one final wish?" Later, the guy next door who had carried a torch for me for years climbed to the rooftop and begged me to marry him. Ethan stared at me with bloodshot eyes. "Are you really going to throw away our seven-year relationship just for him?" I brushed his hand away. "Should I just let him die? It's only a marriage certificate. Where's your compassion now?"

After lights-out, I make my roommates play with an Ouija board with me. Being the scaredy-cat she is, my roommate decides to ask something stupid, "Where did my earphones go?" I almost burst out laughing. I can't believe she's using it to find her earphones. To our surprise, the planchette starts to move. It spells out, "It's under your bed beside the eye." We exchange glances in confusion. What eye? I snort and get out of bed. Using my phone's flashlight, I check under the bed. Nothing is there. Before I can make fun of my roommate for being superstitious, the door slams open. The student who stays next door barges into our room, her face as pale as a sheet. Her voice trembles as she shouts, "Wake up! Everyone on campus is going wild! Someone found an eyeball in our dorm!"

A cabin by a lake for the summer with barely a soul in sight sounds like the perfect place to disappear to for eight weeks. Just me and my laptop, writing my next bestseller. Away from the city and the drama. My plans soon change on my first day here, all because of a handsome stranger who turns out not to be as much as a stranger as I thought. Sound's complicated, right? I didn't come here to get involved with anyone, the opposite really, but Kyson has a way to get to me easily, one which isn't so easy to fight especially when he is next door for the entire summer. I could resist, I should resist, but it is hard to fight chemistry, lust and connection, all things we seemed to share. I didn't think when I came here my summer would change everything and not all for the best.

It's 11:30 pm. Home alone, I decide to order some takeout. When the map shows the delivery guy is zero miles away, I receive a call from him. I pick up, only to hear unsettling silence from the other end. I hang up, annoyed. The next moment, the guy texts me, "Sorry, I'm hearing-impaired and unable to speak. I called to notify you to pick up your food as soon as possible. I can't explain things over the phone, and I apologize for that." Then comes another text. "You must've been waiting for a long time. I've left your order at your door, so please pick it up as soon as you can." Just as I prepare to open the door, I see bars of live comments—reminiscent of livestream chats—floating right before my eyes. "Don't open the door! That dude isn't a delivery guy at all! He's a murderer!" "He called you to check if you're a woman living alone!" "Seriously, why are all thriller story protagonists always so dumb? The delivery guy is obviously suspicious, yet she still wants to open the door."

Tommy lunges for my face and bombards me with his mouth. His hands are everywhere and I can feel his erection against my hip. Don’t get me wrong, Tommy gets me hot. I usually end up not minding the things we do, but he is just so damn aggressive. I try to push him off to at least get some air, but he slams my back against the door and pushes his body into me harder. My head slams into the door and I see stars for a second. ********************************** Ryan has had the biggest crush on Carter Moore since her first day of middle school. Now a junior in high school, she not only sees him every day, but sits next to him in Band. Suddenly, Carter asks her out. The two begin dating, but Ryan's past brutality at the hands of her ex-boyfriend, Tommy, threatens to tear them apart, especially with Tommy's sentencing hearing coming up.

I got off work early and walked into the living room, only to find my wife lounging lazily on the couch. And next to her? Some random dude I didn't recognize. "Babe, you know I'm obsessed with that sweet, milky smell," he said, sipping away like it was the best thing he'd ever tasted. That was it—I completely lost it. Meanwhile, our baby was in the corner, crying her lungs out, hungry and ignored. I didn't even think twice. I grabbed the broom by the door and stormed in, ready to raise hell.

What I thought was fictional turned out to be real, and I eventually fell under the spell of the two beasts that shifted under the moon. Meet Jasper, the young man who lives next door and whom I trust the most. Then I met Damon, one of my class's most mesmerizing and strange students. They aren't just good-looking teens because they have a secret that only I know. And knowing their secret is what will put me in danger. The closer I get to them, the more dangerous it is for me. The moon will show what kind of creature they are. And what are they? It's a secret!

When a one-sided love turns the other way around. "I could never see you as a lover. I could not even imagine kissing you." - Jonathan Reed ~~~~ Laura has spent her whole life loving Jonathan Reed, the boy next door who became her best friend. But as they grew older, Jonathan turned into the heartthrob who dated anyone that caught his eye-everyone except her. When she finally confesses her feelings, Jonathan, being the promiscuous man he is, takes advantage of her vulnerability. Something happens between them, but the next day, he acts like it never occurred, treating her as the same "ordinary" friend she's always been. Crushed, Laura is left feeling used and broken. That night, staring at the night sky, she wishes she could stop loving him. A shooting star passes, but Laura bitterly laughs, believing wishes never come true. Or so she thought...

"You call it madness, but I call it love" "You should be kissed and often, by someone who knows how" He has always been a rich stinky man and also a player, at least that was how he was viewed in society. The richest bachelor of every woman's dreams but never has he given in to any of their desire. While she's a good girl leading a simple and peaceful life and enjoyed going by unnoticed. She always seem to mind about her own business and was also pictured as a nobody but all of that had been upturned when their paths crossed. She was hired by him to take good care of his adopted child, the attraction is instant, but like a flame that lits up fast and immediately, so do their desires. Find out what happened next in their lives. Will love continue between them when secrets are reviewed? Don't be let out, Drowned under his touch.