Senior year is supposed to be simple for Paige Bueckers. Lead UConn to another championship. Finish her college career on top. Ignore the constant attention from fans, media, and scouts waiting for her next move. Then she meets Isabella "Bella" Auriemma. At twenty-two, Bella is nothing like the college students Paige is used to being around. Fiercely independent, sharp-witted, and impossible to intimidate, Bella is balancing graduate studies in forensic psychology while raising her three-year-old son, Leo. Becoming a mother at nineteen forced her to grow up faster than everyone around her, and she's spent years proving that she doesn't need anyone's help-especially not a star basketball player. As Geno Auriemma's niece, Bella has been around basketball her entire life. She knows exactly who Paige is, which makes her one of the few people completely unimpressed by the superstar treatment everyone else gives her. And that might be what draws Paige in the most. What starts as casual run-ins at family dinners, practices, and campus events quickly turns into late-night conversations, coffee runs, and afternoons spent with a curious little boy who somehow steals Paige's heart before she even realizes what's happening. Leo adores Paige from the start. Bella tries not to. Because falling for someone like Paige Bueckers comes with risks. The spotlight. The uncertainty. The fact that Paige's future could take her anywhere after graduation. But the more time they spend together, the harder it becomes to ignore the way Paige fits into their lives-or the way Leo starts saving a seat for her at the dinner table. For the first time in her life, Paige finds herself wanting something bigger than basketball. And for the first time in years, Bella finds herself wondering if she can trust someone enough to let them become part of her little family. Between championship dreams, family expectations, and a love neither of them saw coming, Paige and Bella will have to decide i

Rosalie wants more than boring hookups-she wants fire. Enter Reed, a cocky frat boy with a secret, and a plan to give her exactly what she craves. ౨ৎ Rosalie is tired of boring, vanilla hookups. Who can match her freak? Enter Reed Hurst, the cocky frat boy quarterback, who thinks he can give Rosalie what she wants. When their worlds collide at a frat party, sparks fly-but Reed's got a secret. He's not just after her for fun. There's a reason why he knows exactly what she wants and needs-and he's not backing down. One thing's for sure: this game of push and pull is just getting started. The tension is sizzling, the stakes are high, and in a world of cocky jocks, frat boys, sorority girls, drama, and endless parties, Rosalie might just have to throw caution to the wind. But can she handle the rush of it all?

Completed • First Draft - not edited. || "You gonna sit there all night?" Luka glances at me, smirking. I glare back. "I was enjoying the last few seconds of peace before having to spend an evening pretending to like you." "That's funny," he says, unbuckling his seatbelt. "Why?" I snap. "Because I was thinking the same thing." || The rules? Easy enough. 1. Pretend to be the perfect couple. 2. Keep it professional. 3. And whatever you do, don't. catch. feelings. Simple, right? Sofia Calloway never planned on going viral for throwing a drink in Luka Mikhaylov's face. But one video, one pissed-off hockey star, and one furious university later... she's suddenly stuck in a fake relationship with the guy she can't stand. He needs to clean up his image before the NHL draft. She needs the free tuition that comes with the deal. All they have to do is smile for the cameras, hold hands at the games, and act like they don't want to strangle each other. Then come the late-night arguments that last too long. The stolen glances that feel too dangerous. The moment where "pretend" starts looking way too real. Because when you break the rules, someone's bound to lose. And this time, it might be both of them.

"Solè, why'd you stay?" "Because, Zaire... you the first thing that ever felt worth staying for." ❀ 🝳 ❀ Harlem held the noise. Solè gave Zaire the quiet. Zaire Knox, Harlem's quiet storm, known for his ties to the streets and a gaze that read people faster than they could lie to him. Respected. Feared. Loved. With scars buried deeper than his tattoos, he never planned to love soft. Until a Harlem vinyl shop left behind by his late grandfather forces him to slow down, to breathe, to find his real purpose in the world beyond the streets. Solè Sinclair, soft but unbreakable, raised by her father after loss. By day, she serves warmth behind the counter of a café. By night, she disappears into her art, trying to paint the parts of herself no one ever sees. When their worlds cross, the city shifts. What starts off tense and unexpected turns tender. Together, they learn love can hold you just as fierce as the streets ever did, and softer, too. But love in Harlem always asks one question: what are you willing to risk when the heart wants more than the streets ever offered? A Harlem story. A hood love. A soft place to land. ❀ 🝳 ❀

"𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭." 𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦. "𝘐 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦. 𝘈𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭." 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘳𝘶𝘣𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦.