"The boy suddenly looked up, his perfectly black eyes meeting mine. I knew, at least aesthetically, we were already opposites. His eyes were black and mine were blue; his hair was thick and long, mine was thin and short; he wore all black, I wore bright colors. But in his eyes, I saw the same thing I see every morning. I saw a certain weight I could never describe. A certain tiredness that can't be fixed with sleep. He kept looking at me and I kept looking back at him and neither of us blinked and neither of us spoke and neither of us moved. His head tilted ever so slightly I doubted it even happened. His eyes flashed something quick and familiar and I felt my eyes widen and my neck burn and my hands suddenly fighting against my body to reach out." .................. Rex doesn't have much of a social circle or a family or a connection to real life. He just does what he has to in order to survive. He studies to graduate high school on time and he smiles to get through the day, but for so long, he's done it all alone. He just wants someone to share little moments with, someone who will listen to him and stick around. After getting stuck in a blizzard, Rex meets Matteo. Matteo who doesn't talk much. Matteo who doesn't smile much. Matteo who is nothing like anything Rex has known. Slowly, those little moments Rex used to wish someone else could exist in with him, start becoming the big moments. The big moments lived in by both Rex and Matteo. ..................

Luke Hale, 26, is a chaotic, hot-as-hell young cop with the emotional subtlety of a brick. He loves his job, loves flirting, loves attention - and immediately decides he also loves Harper Finn, the pretty ENT doctor who patched up his eyebrow after a stupid off-duty accident. Harper, 29, is guarded, chronically tired, and absolutely not falling for the charming idiot who keeps showing up at his place of work "coincidentally." Luke swears it's love at first sight. Harper swears it's a concussion. Only one of them is right.

Miles Vader, a boy with heterochromia and recovering traumatic memory loss, moves back to his home town after two and a half years- only to find that his eyes are being painted on the side of abandon buildings. A mysterious painter by the name Night Ninja is the culprit, and he's gained quite the following from his work. His fascination with Miles Vader's eyes sparks interest in not only the community, but a returning Miles. Miles sets out to hunt this mysterious painter- he tracks his movements until he finally pins his target. But each time he gets close, Night Ninja doesn't run toward Miles- he runs away. Upon his search, Miles is reunited with old friends, and that includes Atlas Star- a boy who gives Miles a comforting feeling he can neither understand nor ignore. Miles's dreams are becoming more vivid. His memories are surfacing, and all he has to do is put them all together. But one night, on Miles's quest to capture Night Ninja- he does. Miles looks Night Ninja in the eye... ...and it changes everything.

Marical Bacques fell apart. The star hockey player known for being personable, sly, and fun was suddenly deep into a therapist's office, taking anti-depressants and attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. Although he was no longer in the sin bin on the ice it feels like he is in life off the ice. During his recovery, his therapist recommends that he pick up a hobby outside of hockey, as he can only view himself as a hockey player after the emotional abuse of his father. In his pink eyeshadow and red hair, Dallas Smith is there to teach Marical how to paint. Somewhere along the way, while he's working on bettering himself, Marical finds himself being taught many other things by Dallas. In a time of his life when the ice is uneven, and everything feels like a punishment in the sin bin, Marical is learning how to love himself and others.

"Go home Teddy, I don't have the self control you think I do." "I think I'll take that second drink." ~ Teddy Bray didn't know how he let himself get here. He was stuck in a toxic relationship he couldn't get himself to leave. He was a fixer and when it came to his girlfriend Taylor, Teddy should have known there was nothing he could do to fix their relationship. All it took for things to finally change was one look from Cole Madden. Cole had a type and when that type walked into his bar it was hard to say no. Even if that man had his sister clung to him like a leech. They couldn't be together but as tensions rise they both find out just how much self control they really have.

Rayne has a routine, a plan. He lives life according to this routine. A few times a week, his routine allows him a few hours to hide away in his diner. Everything is always the same in this diner, even the variances are consistent. That is, until the gray-haired manager hires a new waiter who moves about like a tornado. This boy does not know Rayne's "usual" or his proclivity to be left alone so he can watch and study the people living around him. This new waiter disrupts his routine in all the worst ways and Rayne can't help but hate him. He doesn't seem to care, however, continuing to disrupt Rayne and see Rayne and pop Rayne's bubble of safety, and ask Rayne questions that he doesn't want to answer. It was all quite aggravating really. •••••• He looked vaguely familiar, like an ancient statute carved from marble or a delicately crafted oil painting you can see only in the galleries in Europe. He was all but perfect, just one minor flaw over his eyebrow- a scar where hair refused to grow, leaving a pale gash to interrupt his dark eyebrow. I noticed, between all my studying of this strange man's face, that his lips were moving. I had no desire to hear what he was saying. I was content to just watch. The ways his lips parted and pressed together, his porcelain teeth teasing an appearance behind them. I watched him speak, not hearing a word, until he stopped, his lips curving up and open on one end in an aggravating smirk. I don't know why it aggravated me, but it did. I furrowed my brows and removed an earbud, moving my eyes back up to his. His eyes seemed to aggravate me too. They looked all too teasing, all too amused. 🎖️ #1- yearn- Feb 18, 2026🥇 #1- love- Dec 18, 2025🥇 #1- slowburn- Dec 18, 2025🥇 #2- boyxboy- Dec 18, 2025🥈 #2- bxb- Dec 18, 2025🥈 #2- manxman- Dec 18, 2025🥈 #3- literature- Feb 14, 2026🥉 #10- lgbt- Dec 26, 2025

San Francisco. A firefighter. A preschool teacher. Romance. You get the idea. A quick little story in the same genre as my Window book. Innocent, fluffy, sweet, smutty

《 This is a BoyxBoy story 》 William Caddel wants to live. Between crushing expectations and the strictness that comes with them that seems like such an impossible thing to do. He has so much of the world he wants to see, so much he wants to experience. He's a kid who is expected to act like anything but. With the help of a friend he gets a tiny taste of freedom. He gets a grasp of what life could be like away from his pretentious private school and snobby parents. He gets to experience the life he's dreamed of and gets hooked fast. For Ian Morrison it didn't take long to see through the boy his sister brought along to hangout one day. The awkward, anxious, shy type. The kid grew on him, faster than he could've imagined. After learning about everything Liam has missed out on, Ian wants to help him. Doing things you've never done before with someone else as a guide opens up a whole new life. Liam is already trying many new things and getting opportunities he's never had before, so why not offer up one more?

In search of distraction, Aster, a prickly young mage with barely controlled power, and Nash, a packless werewolf, find themselves in the same MMORPG. Aster's not much for chatting, but Nash doesn't mind-he's just grateful for the help fighting spiders in an area he's underleveled for. Neither expects their connection to extend beyond the game, but fate intervenes when Aster finds himself stranded one night. With no other options, he reluctantly reaches out to Nash for a ride. As Nash arrives to help, both are stunned to realise they've met before.

Fabio Costa has plenty of talent, a sharp tongue, and unlimited energy to burn, but his forehand could be improved. Enter Julian Foster, a retired Wimbledon Champion with a bad knee and zero patience for Fabio's antics. When the two of them team up, their unexpected bond takes them from the gruelling Challenger circuit to the glamorous world of Grand Slams. But as their connection deepens, amidst intense training sessions, press meltdowns and far too many shared hotel rooms, their feelings for each other threaten to bring down everything they have ever worked for. cover art by the amazing @aphedragonfly CW: Language, Alcohol, Injuries, Mentions of past emotional abuse. +++ All tennis players featured in the story are completely fictional. All similarities to existing players are due to there being only so many ways you can hit a ball with a racquet. +++ Featured by WackyWriters [Judges' Favorites March 2025]