The air in town smelled like roasted cherries. It was a scent more suited for mid-Summer like July or late spring, like May or Early June right before it becomes summer. But it was neither of those times. It was slap-fucked in the crack of late December. Frost laced all the windows like some persistent lover, clingy and elegant. The small town where Hattie lived was filled with shabby shacks of crumbling brick and banged...

Aidan Klaus was waiting for LaMeeka to finish getting dressed. He looked at his watch, tapping his foot. “You know my parents will be more pissed off that we’re late than if your shoes match your cardigan or not, right?” he called up the stairs. “I’m almost ready … I have to find my other earring. You haven’t seen it, have you?” she asked, poking her head from around the wall at the top of the stairs to look down at him....

Dr. Sloan was driving us across the country to visit my polycule. She was the closest thing I had to a Caregiver. In this day and age, a Kinky Lifestyle Little like me couldn’t be picky. The State had a huge nation-wide curfew on travelling this time of year. Dr. Sloan had connections. Dr. Sloan, who told me, many times, to call her by her first name, Lakshmi, had to make one simple phone call and all was taken care of. S...