The atmosphere in the gallery buzzed with a sense of freshness and anticipation, carrying a whisper of creativity unfolding. Track lighting lined the ceiling. Adjustable. Precise. Jim moved between Jen's paintings with ease, angling each beam to create pools of light and shadow that transformed flat canvas into living dimension. "Watch the angle here." Jim's voice carried across the chaotic space. A cluster of art student...

Chapter 5: Sex for Breakfast SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON, FIVE YEARS EARLIER... I’m twenty-one years old. I miss the old Comic-Con, from when I was a kid. Artist panels, big personalities, culture and community coming together in celebration. These days, it’s just a public circle-jerk for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or low-hanging fruit for short-form content creators that need you to “Smash that Like button!” Kill me now. The...

It had been three weeks since we said our goodbyes off the cruise and back to reality. Still, I caught myself checking my phone, waiting for their names to light up the screen. I missed him. I missed that connection, the way it had swallowed me whole. I would never want to break up a family; the thought alone made me sick. It was wrong—morally, painfully wrong—yet I couldn’t shake him. We used to talk about forever. About...

The Washington mountains loomed like silent giants, their peaks dusted with late summer snow under a sky that bled twilight purples. Neal, his calves burning from six hours of relentless trail, trudged toward the Pine Hollow Hut, his pack heavy but his spirit light. At thirty-four, he was no stranger to the grind—his sporty frame, lean but not carved like some gym bro, was built for this: long hikes, fresh air, and the ki...

If Emma was honest with herself, she was never really into straight sex. Plain-vanilla sex with her husband just never seemed worth the effort. She married Aaron more out of obligation and had sex with him around once a month for the first 10 years of their marriage for the same reason. It wasn’t as though she didn’t love him, he was still her best friend. Aaron just didn’t seem to turn her on. But that was guys in genera...

It starts casual. Just a text on a lazy Saturday morning. Him: “Pool day today. Invite her.” I freeze mid-sip of my coffee. I don’t need to ask who. I know who. Her. The neighbor. The one with the perfect mouth and the voice that’s always just a little too soft when she talks to my husband. The one I’ve caught him lingering around—pretending to be helpful when her groceries need carried in. The one I once caught him moani...

It wasn’t supposed to happen. Not like this. Not tonight. We were just hanging out. Drinks at our place. Catching up, laughing, reminiscing. Her legs draped over my lap. His eyes doing a terrible job pretending not to linger. She’d always been around. His best friend’s little sister. Cute. Sweet. Dangerously grown now. And when I leaned over and whispered, “Want to share me with her?” His whole world short-circuited. He d...

Court is in session, and you are the accused. You're kneeling on the floor of the living room, as naked as they day you were born, surrounded on all sides by your lodgers. Natasha - your sultry, violet-skinned partner in crime - is kneeling beside you, looking completely unperturbed by her fellow demons' cutting gazes. You, on the other hand, are feeling more than a little embarrassed. To have your tryst discovered by one...

Captain Steve Anstead considered himself a lucky man. For the past three years, he’d been clandestinely married to Diana DeGrow, a buxom blonde flight attendant with a sex drive that would rival that of a horny frat boy. Sure, her scandalous reputation for being slutty had earned her the moniker, Dirty Diana. But having her as his wife was a decadent little secret, and it had him walking around with a hard-on more often t...

Upstairs, the hallway lights were dim, but the sound of giggles carried easily down the corridor. Hannah and Diana walked side by side, wrapped in towels, flushed from steam and satisfaction. Their eyes sparkled with mischief, and every brush of skin-to-skin contact sent shivers up their spines. Hannah bumped Diana with her hip, grinning. “You’re trouble, you know that?” Diana laughed, warm and breathless. “You started it...

The azure waves of the Caribbean crashed rhythmically against the sandy shore, a stark contrast to the tumultuous tempest churning in Carla's mind. The exotic allure of the distant islands was lost on her, the vibrant flamboyance of the flora and fauna a mere backdrop to her internal monologue. She sat on a lounge chair, sipping a piña colada that had begun to melt in the sultry afternoon heat, her eyes vacant as they sta...