Everyone can read minds except for Ethan Langdon. And Ethan Langdon has the dumbest (and cutest!) thoughts Lukas Hoffmann has ever heard. ____ Lukas Hoffman's life in Brambleburg is about as boring as you'd expect for a town where everyone can read minds. He's used to his routine of dusting the LPs at the record store where he works and helping out his grandma around the house. Nothing in Brambleburg changes. No one in Brambleburg changes. Until Ethan Langdon stumbles in with the soggy remnants of a paper map, asking for the quickest route to Berlin. Ethan, it turns out, doesn't have telepathy, and as aggravatingly inane as his thoughts are, Lukas hasn't felt the excitement of meeting a stranger since.... well, ever. And the more Lukas listens, the more he starts enjoying Ethan's cute thoughts about life, the universe, and Lukas's dimples. ____ Might bring to mind: "Cherry Magic" but set in a fictive European town where everyone except the love interest can read minds. ____ Written for the Open Novella Contest 2024 using prompts 8, 75, 82, and 85. 8. You start singing along to a movie soundtrack late at night forgetting that your window is open. Someone from the outside starts singing with you. 75. You awake in the middle of the night to a voice saying loudly "May the force be with you..." 82. You wake up on a seemingly ordinary day to discover that your thoughts are not private. There is someone else in your head with you. 85. "If you do that again, I'll throw you out that freaking window. What are you doing?" "Checking how high the drop is to see if it's worth it."

After fainting in elementary school, Noah Roman was forever banned from human contact. Still able to attend school, though he has to wear a mask, gloves, and not show a single part of his body, Noah was perfectly fine with it. Living with content Noah never cared about how others thought nor he would never experience a true relationship. Casted outside of the world, Noah grew fond of his illness, but like seasons, it changed. Moving away from his home state to California, Dominic Storm wasn't exactly fond of the new place. Researching cases of Mysophobia, Dominic begins to care less and less about his schooling and life. Without knowing, Dominic invades Noah's safety bubble, stirring up trouble for Noah and himself. Avoiding, pushing and hiding couldn't separate these two no matter how hard either tried. Does Noah finally see the pain of no longer having the ability to touch? And why does Dominic care so much for Mysophobia?

With his career on the line, Ashton takes a blockbuster role-only to find himself starring opposite his longtime rival, Ryker Cohen. But as tension turns to sparks, hate might not be the only thing burning between them. *** With Ashton's dying career, his last lifeline was accepting the lead role in a sureshot blockbuster. But the new role had a catch, and the catch had a name: Ryker Cohen, Ashton's sole archnemesis. Can Ashton act alongside the man he has spent years despising? Will he give in to the hate? Or will Ryker's soft touch melt Ashton's stone cold heart? *** "You're crazy," Ashton whispered. "Yes," Ryker continued. "For you." "No. You're just crazy. Period." *** [mxm] [marked mature for sexual content]