The Step Bet

by Riley Hart and Devon McCormack

ASH

All stepbrothers need Step Don'ts.

Colin and I have ours.

Like, don't pit our parents against either of us. Don't hog the TV. And definitely...

Don't.

Keep.

Secrets.

These rules have done more than help us keep the peace between us.

After all these years since our parents got together, I can't imagine my life without Colin.

To most people, he's the hot, straight tight end for Peach State.

But to me, he's my backward-cap-wearing, football-loving, piggyback-ride-giving best friend and fellow Alpha Theta Mu frat bro.

Life's pretty incredible living together at the same frat house, but suddenly, I find myself keeping a particularly naughty secret.

I tell myself Colin wouldn't want to know what his bi bro does in private, but then why do I feel like I'm committing a huge Step Don't?

COLIN

There's nothing I'm more of an expert in than my stepbro, Ash.

He's a quick-witted, nerd-boy genius who's always there to help a friend cram for a test or capture bugs for me when they invade my space.

He's my favorite person.

Making him happy gives me a rush...but for the first time, he's keeping a secret from me.

When Ash cops to his Step Don't—his new extracurricular of doing dirty things on camera—I'm confused.

He is too, so we work together to figure out why this excites him so much.

In places we're likely to get caught.

After all, what's a little exhibitionism between stepbros?

I didn't even realize I could be into guys—or be so intoxicated by these new experiences—but exploring my bisexuality with Ash is the best thing that's ever happened to me.

And with each touch, each time we up the stakes, I discover I want more than just Ash's body.

I want his heart too, even though that surely must be the biggest Step Don't of all.

The Silver Dragon

by Ellis Colton

Can an old crush lead to new love?
 
Teo Marquez attends an after-school karate program with his best friend at their junior high in San Bonita, Texas. It's challenging, but also totally fun, so Teo signs up for more classes at the Silver Dragon, the local dojo. While Teo loves his karate classes, he becomes silently smitten with a gorgeous teenage assistant there, Mr. Eklund. But before Teo gets the nerve up to even say hello to his crush, his family moves away and Teo's dreams are shattered.

Six years after moving to California, Teo returns to San Bonita as a transfer college student and rekindles some old friendships. He decides to take karate again when he learns that his old crush, Lucas Eklund, is now the sensei at the Silver Dragon! Adult Lucas is even more handsome than Teo dreamed of, and he returns Teo's interest. There's one problem--Lucas is deep in the closet. Teo thinks he can handle it, but Lucas' personal dragons might be stronger than Teo anticipated.

Fall of Us

by Joelle Lynne

I'd risk it all just to get a taste of you…

Brandon

My plan was perfect… until it wasn’t. Whenever my heart was shattered, you were always there as my source of comfort. So when it happened yet again, I took the opportunity and put my plan into action: One kiss. One kiss shouldn't ruin us. Couldn’t. What we had was unbreakable. I didn't think I'd become obsessed, or that I'd want it again and again, but that was why I had to pretend it didn't happen. You meant too much to me to put it all on the line. I couldn't lose you if we failed. But it's becoming too unbearable, and I'm haunted by the memory of that one time we gave in. Can we take the biggest risk of our lives?

Andrew

My secret was mine… until it wasn’t. Did you know that I'd always wanted you? You dangled what we could be in front of me, but I couldn't tell if you meant it or not. Then, without a word, everything went back to how it was before, like it hadn’t happened. But it had, and I couldn't let it go. My heart still aches for you, and after watching you give yourself to other men for years, I'm at the end of my rope. We could be amazing if we weren't afraid, and I think it's time we give in again. Will our risk pay off or will it be our fall?

Hired by the Enemy

by Jax Calder

Liam
I’ve landed my first big assignment with Elite, and it has the potential to be a financial game-changer, so I’m determined not to screw it up. All I have to do is pretend to be a wealthy CEO’s boyfriend on a sun-kissed tropical island for a week. How hard can that be?

Unfortunately, I’m met at the airport by an unexpected blast from my past: Matthew O’Conner. The nerd who lived next door to me growing up—also known as my lifelong nemesis.

This job just got a whole lot more complicated.

Matthew
My blood runs cold when I spot Liam sauntering through the airport doors. Of all the people in the world to show up to be my fake boyfriend for a week, why did it have to be Liam Jamieson? Mr. All-American Charm. The jock with a smile that melts everyone—except me. We’ve been at odds since childhood, trapped in an endless cycle of pranks and one-upmanship.
And now we have to pretend we’re in love? This is going to be a complete disaster.
Or is it?

It turns out Liam and I have both grown up since high school. And maybe, just maybe, we never actually knew each other to begin with.

The Heart of Moonlight Falls

by Colette Rivera

In the end, the heart is all that matters.
James is ready to settle into the future he’s always dreamed of, but he can’t. Nothing comes easily for him and Sebastian while the Storm House curse haunts them and trouble continues to brew in Moonlight Falls.

Battling shades is a given. What James doesn’t expect is the town turning on the man he loves.

Secrets get out and Sebastian must fight for his place in the community as he reckons with his connection to the magic of Moonlight Falls and what it means for defeating his family’s curse and restoring the veins of power once and for all. While the answers he finds challenge his resolve, Sebastian knows nothing from this world or Beyond can break his and James’s bond.

There will always be light in the dark, and together, James and Sebastian can make it shine. But will that be enough to get them through their final challenge?

Passing Through Purgatory

by Nik Knight

When Oliver applied for a job in the Hell dimension on a whim, he didn’t expect it to turn his whole world—or his heart—entirely upside down.

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Recently graduated at twenty-six, and two months behind on rent, Oliver Barnes is desperate. So desperate, in fact, that he applies for a job in the Greed district of Hell’s Pentagram. But when he misses his train and, subsequently, his job interview, he stumbles, instead, upon a strange little coffee shop in the middle of Purgatory’s barren desert—and into an unexpected opportunity.

​

It isn’t the job he came to Hell for, but maybe it’s exactly the job he needs.

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As he navigates the demon dimension and tries to survive the ridiculous shenanigans of his unholy co-workers, Oliver soon falls head-over-ass for a tentacled lawyer with electric fingers and a deadly-sharp grin. Together, they discover that, sometimes, love and happiness can be just a train ride away.