**2026 PRIDE AWARDS SHORTLIST** Tommy's older, jaded, and sure he's too broken to love. Riley's younger, gentle, and still believes in forever. - Tommy Carter learned early that desire could drown you. That wanting the wrong thing could get you hurt... or worse. So he buried it. Became a cop. Got engaged to a woman. Lived the life expected of him, even as the weight of silence filled his lungs. Then he met Riley Monroe, a sweet, soft-spoken physical therapy student-- and everything Tommy shouldn't be thinking about late at night. Tommy, closeted and aching, knows he should keep his distance. Riley is sunshine in human form, with a shy smile and eyes that see right through him. He's never been with a man. Never let himself want one this badly. But Riley's kindness cracks something open in him. Makes him feel like maybe, just maybe... it's not too late to want more. The age gap should be a warning. The timing couldn't be worse. But Riley is something like oxygen... and for the first time in years, Tommy wants to breathe. TRIGGER WARNING: This story contains homophobic language, traumatic childhood scenarios, and mature sexual content.

Two 'average' Community College girls have their lives changed overnight when they accidentally cross over into a different dimension. Suddenly, Chim's biggest problem is no longer coming out to her parents, while this dimension might be the solution to Max's biggest problem. ***** Chim Nedi is your typical upstanding college student with above-average grades living a seemingly normal life. Max Campbell is the opposite with below-average grades, a traumatic car accident experience from a couple of years ago, and a slight marijuana problem. But what happens when they find themselves in a different dimension, a parallel universe of sorts with no one that understands but themselves? What happens as they explore this new world while exploring themselves and their relationship with each other? Can this fantasy world lead to romance? (Book One of The INTERDIMENSIONAL series.) Content and/or Trigger Warning: Drug use, grief, addiction, torture

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