"One sip of cheap strawberry wine still tastes like the summer I lost my innocence—and found something far more dangerous: real love."
The Taste of SummerEven now, all these years later, a single sip of strawberry wine can stop time. I was at a backyard barbecue in Dallas last summer—some neighbor’s Fourth of July thing, the kind where the air smells like...
"Some lessons can’t be taught in class"
The bustling university halls echoed with the chatter of excited students, but for Ava, the first day was a whirlwind of anxiety. Her heart raced as she clutched her books, palms slick with sweat. Every unfamiliar face seemed to judge...
"A naïve girl's innocence shatters on a church ski trip when she's manipulated into losing her virginity, revealing a web of exploitation that haunts her through high school."
I remember that youth group ski trip like it was etched into my soul with a hot iron—every flake of snow, every whisper of wind through the pines, every bubble in that damned hot tub. I was a sophomore, just...
"Based on true events..."
It was a fire that brought me here, and a thin wall separates us.I hear her groans of surrender, and I was on the cusp of sleep; they must think I am. It prickles inside me, an unwanted sense of...
"The end of pain, the start of the journey"
The morning had broken with a solemn draw, something that lingered and pulsated under my skin. There were no jitters around the breakfast table. My body screamed rejection at everything we were about to do.To the point of feeling sick.Again.Food...
"Sarah finds an unique way to help escape her past..."
We were leaving Sarah’s parents' bungalow and heading to the “Bat and Bull” pub for the normal Sunday night disco. Sarah had been chatting with Clare on the phone, and she had been surprisingly reluctant to tell her in person...
"Before I could soar, I had to suffocate—expelling David in one final, gutsy move."
She sat on the floor in the middle of the room. Books were piled, notes were checked and double-checked, and her hair was tied up in a knot, but strands were escaping, trailing, and waving. Glasses on her nose, lost...
"Chasing rainbows through the cracks of in-between, where the ghosts of who we were still whisper."
It was Henry who still fought.He served breakfast in bed. Strong, motherfucking coffee for me, honeyed tea for her. Bacon and pancakes laced in syrup. And on my plate, a small square of Belgian chocolate. The ones that would have...
"Love can break you, even when it’s the only thing keeping you alive."
I saw it in her eyes as she topped my coffee.Finish this, then let’s get to it.Henry peered over his newspaper, giving us that look telling us he knew we were up to something on the weekends, that he wouldn’t...
"The scarlet whore, her broken beast, and desire driven beyond the final restraint."
The bar buzzed with life; everyone knew my name by now.Alice didn’t keep her protective eye on me at all times now, but it was still girls' night. And if anyone lingered too long or got too close, the cat...