Larisse’s hands felt like they were about to fall off when she threw the tool belt onto the table to take a sip from her water bottle. Almost three months of hard work were behind her, and even though Larisse was glad she took the job in the end. It was not the kind of work she wanted to be remembered for. But this one statue would keep her financially afloat for a long time. She wiped the dust from her glasses, only then...

The cold seeped into Sienna's bones as she sat huddled in the darkness of the Siperia's cockpit. Her breath misted in the frigid air, the temperature steadily dropping as the ship's life support systems failed one by one. She glanced over at Inesh, his face pale and drawn in the faint light from the emergency beacons. They had been on a routine mission to survey a nearby asteroid, a simple supply run that should have take...

The week between Christmas and New Year's crawled. Every shift at the library, Lena's eyes flicked to the door the moment the bell jingled. Every time, it wasn't him—just harried mothers with hyper kids, or retirees grabbing winter thrillers. By New Year's Eve, she had given up. Snowflakes stuck to the windows as she locked the front doors, flipped the sign to Closed. The clock above the front desk read 5:58 PM. No patron...

Lena tucked a strand of honey-brown hair behind her ear, shelving a stack of romance novels. She winced at the visual assault of tinsel, red bows, and twinkling lights covering every shelf of the small bookstore. The pristine holiday display clashed violently with the gray slush and gritty snow melting onto the mat from a dozen customers' boots—a mess she will have to take care of later. The bell above the door jingled, a...

The hinges groaned as I eased Bill's back door open. His familiar scent—wood smoke and that piney cologne—punched me in the gut, making my knees wobble. Breathe, Tina. Just breathe. I traced the edge of their kitchen counter, fingertips skating over chilled marble. His empty coffee mug had sat there, lipstick smudged on the rim. Not hers. Mine. From Tuesday. I had watched her toss it in the dishwasher through the window,...

Vivian stood in the hallway outside her apartment, frowning at the man knocking on her best friend Lisa's door across the hall. She recognized him immediately—Jim. Lisa's go-to fuckboy. Tall, tattooed, and annoyingly good-looking, he was the kind of guy who made his intentions clear just by existing. Vivian crossed her arms over her chest, irritation bubbling up as she watched him knock again, louder this time. "She's not...

Matthew's eyes fluttered open, the morning light stabbing at his skull. He groaned, shielding his face with his forearm. The room spun lazily, a hazy carousel of memory fragments—loud music, flashing lights, the taste of cheap beer, and her. His lips tingled at the thought, a phantom sensation of softness and warmth. He couldn't recall her name, but he remembered the way she had laughed, low and throaty, before pulling hi...