Between Leases and Labels
- Reads 23
- Votes 3
- Parts 5
Ongoing31m
Last published Mon, Jul 28, 2025
Twenty-four-year-old Maia Santos is fresh off a breakup that felt less like a door closing and more like a floor giving way. Broke, bruised, and crashing on her brother's couch, she stumbles into an open house where a terrifyingly pragmatic landlord offers a lifeline: co-lease with a stranger, skip the waitlist.
Enter Elias Reyes, coffee snob with a spreadsheet soul and an ex who refuses to take the hint. Enter Nico, Maia's annoyingly supportive older brother dragging her out for midnight sis-bro dumplings and radical pep talks. And Ari, a magnetic, gender-fluid, effortlessly flirty, and the first person to make Maia's stomach flip since... ever? Or at least since the wrong person.
Buried in their rental agreement is a "radical honesty" clause requiring monthly check-ins about boundaries, schedules, and "romantic entanglements." It was supposed to keep things drama-free. Instead, it cracks Maia wide open past heartbreak, into messy desire, toward the shimmering truth that her attraction doesn't obey straight lines or tidy labels.
A lease brought her a roof. Honesty brought her a self she finally recognizes.
All Rights Reserved
#184
handsome
Join the largest storytelling communityGet personalized story recommendations, save your favourites to your library, and comment and vote to grow your community.
You may also like
The Maia and Ross Diaries
If you met Maia you'd think of her as the same as anyone you've ever met. The girl on the magazine, and for a while, just for a while she wanted to believe the same thing. But she was different. The young girl does lose something that makes a life feel much looser, including their status, but there is always a boy, who won't give up. So eventually she has to stand up and take being stuck between guy crazy best friends who become her people, the guy, the dad who moves too fast, the sister who conceals her pain, the past she can't hide and a pen and paper patches up her life very slowly with tape and glue but at the very least ... some people are worth writing for and Maia is not simple. ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* . *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ When Maia loses her mother to cancer, she takes on high school life as if nothing ever happened. She lived the best of both worlds. After her mother's death, Maia promised herself she wouldn't be in any boy's pants to recover from her loss. She's isolated now. She's distant. Her mother's death has conflicted her thinking. Maybe she should just smile... it's what everyone chooses to do. But what if the muscles don't work the same as they once had? What if you have to start figuring life out in shades of grey.Complete
My 18th Birthday
In this heartfelt story, Bruce Reyes a seventeen year old, has this best friend named Ferran Williams who is also seventeen years old. Ferran has an older brother named Cole Arlo Williams. Since Ferran and Bruce have been best friends for a few years, they always hung out with each other like two peas in a pod. Sometimes the boys hung out at Ferrans house. Cole, a thirty year old male, has had some experiences with romance and what not. When he attended Bruce's fifteenth birthday party, he began seeing Bruce in a different light. One that takes a toll on him. Over the next two years Cole began having these sentiments for young Bruce. Was it wrong? Yes it was. Did it feel right? No it did not. But could Cole control it? No. At least he had to until Bruce turns eighteen years old. When Bruce turns eighteen years old, Cole begins to reveal his feelings to this boy and technically legal adult in some states. While Cole is iffy about his feelings, he doesn't know that Bruce is also in the middle of a crisis. He too began to fall in love with Cole. But what was once a curiosity, turned into a crush that hits Bruce with a gentle gust of welcome to romancehood. Or welcome to the challenging arena of love. But the real question is, will Cole fumble his shot with Bruce? Or will Bruce fumble his shot with Cole? And what would Ferran, Bruce's best friend and Cole's brother, figure of his best friend and older brother falling in love?Complete
Burning Lines
Two opposites. One shared space. A thousand reasons to hate each other-and one undeniable spark. Ava Sinclair has her life perfectly mapped out. Top student, focused, fiercely independent. When her dad's company suddenly goes bankrupt, Ava is forced to attend the public university she swore she never would-one crawling with parties, drama, and worst of all... him. Luca Reed is the golden boy of the campus. Arrogant, reckless, infuriatingly hot. And now? He's her new roommate, thanks to a last-minute co-ed housing glitch. Their first meeting is a disaster. Their second? Worse. But when a kiss meant to hurt sparks something electric, hate turns into obsession. And behind slammed doors and whispered threats, something else begins to burn. They can't stand each other-but they can't stay away either.Complete
While the Sun Shines
What do you get when you put a neurotic failed jock and the guy he used to bully in high school in one apartment? Well, an interesting situation. That's for sure. *** Twenty-one-year-old Nick Walsh was used to being overlooked. His parents were always busy. He had never been as bold and outgoing as his friends. He couldn't seem to get lucky in love, and, after failing to get the attention of scouts for years, he can add 'failed soccer player' to the list. There was nothing keeping Nick home. So, what's a 'loser' with no plan in life to do, except flee abroad and escape having to think about life for a while? Nick had no idea what he'd find in the Netherlands. But he never thought it would be Blake Passant, a boy he has a long, troubled history with, sleeping in the bedroom opposite his in his student dorm.Complete
The Long Way Back to You
18+ When Abby accepts a random invitation to reunite with her ex best friend Darren, she's confused when she finds him cold and dismissive. It's his quiet roommate Clay who notices her and slowly becomes impossible to ignore. Join Abby on a night when everything falls apart. She must decide whether some connections are worth the risk, especially the ones that feel like home. This is a story about chasing memories and disappointments and how sometimes we don't have a fucking clue what is going on in other people's heads. ******************* 13/2/26 I've just re-edited the complete story and given it a revamp and made it saucier. Hope you enjoy it and please don't forget to leave a comment and vote. :)Complete
Screw Me Over ✔️
(Book one of the Screwed Series) MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY and please expect misspellings and plotholes. You have been warned! Only available on Watt pad! (We 'bout to be editing in this mug!) *** "I thought that having all of my best friends, including my sister, would be a great way of all of us to stay connected. I figured that we all still need each other after we all became legal adults. What closeness we had as teens was the same closeness we'd have as adults....or so I thought. Boy, was I wrong. " **** Living with roommates isn't easy in itself. Living with your best friends could be worse... Especially if you're living with 4 of them and their child. When you have that one mom roommate with lustful tendencies, another can't seem to get out of bed unless it's midnight, one that can't stop eating all the food in the house while another will rip the entire house to shreds if you get on her bad side, and that one roommate that acts like a prima-donna.... There's bound to be an earthquake in the tiny apartment. Game on. In order to maintain a stable household and environment, these five ladies have to come together and learn how to set boundaries for the household, their friendships, and their own lives. ⚠️Trigger Warnings: This book may contain some sensual scenes! Girl-on-girl play and such! There may also be signs of abuse, mentions of negative body image, racial situations, and mental illness in this story! Do not try any of these things at home! Remember that you are loved and valued! THIS IS AN 18+ STORY SO PROCEED WITH CAUTION!⚠️ ✨Accomplishments✨: -Honorary Mention in The 2020 Adobo Awards! 💜 -Honorary Mention in The 2020 Winter Rose Awards! 🌷 Written: January 2016 Completed: September 27, 2020Complete
Roommates
Cara Lee is cold, awkward, highly OCD and she is defininly not a people person. She spends most of her days in her luxury apartment away from any social interaction. After having two successful stories published, she has hit a writing block. Not only that, but she's losing money and the only way to keep her apartment is to get a roommate. Hannah Bailey has traveled the world and has never found a place to call home. Tired of living at her agency's model apartments, she decides to settle down in one place. She finds a beautiful apartment and the only issue with it is an unhappy roommate. Cara and Hannah come from two different worlds. Hannah represents everything Cara disliked about people. Hannah who is used to being well liked can't help, but become intrigued by Cara's indifference to her. Can she melt her new roommate's cold exterior and show her that maybe she can like at least one person?Complete
Expect The Unexpected
NOTE;;((previously called Never Thought That This Would Happen)) Two young best friends have left their parents nests and are now out in the world by themselves. Maria, a twenty two year old College graduate makes a living out of being a Psychologist. Things seem to be going well for her until she meet Samuel. But Samuel is her client and as she gets to know him she soon realized why he seems so familiar to her. He reminds her of her ex boyfriend, Michael. Things change for Maria as time passes. She will have to go through heart break and stress. Things will change and someone will end up getting hurt. At the same time, Maria's best friend, Victoria is twenty four and left school at eighteen. She's going from job to job. Pretty much the same way she is with men. She can never settle down. Until she realized that she has fallen for someone she never expected to fall for.Complete
The Summer Storm
Twenty-two year old Kat Benson tried to forget that two days ago her boyfriend dumped her. He was supposed to go with her to their friend's beach house. At least she had her BFF Pat Reynolds, and since her boyfriend wasn't going Pat invited one of his old High School friends, Anna O'Malley to join them. Unfortunately, Kat's room is the only one left, but she offers to share. When the group decides to take part in a beach volleyball summer tournament, Kat comes face to face with the one person she was trying to forget. her ex, Oliver Green. He had clearly moved on already, actually he had moved on months ago, when they were still together. Anna catches the whole thing and wants to help. Only, her version of helping was to plant a kiss on Kat's lips. It ignited something inside Oliver because the guy was clearly jealous. Anna offers to continue the act and make Oliver see what he's missing out on. When she discovers that not only is Oliver part of the volleyball team, but that his group of friends rented the same house next to theirs, she realizes she has to step up her game with Anna. Only- was it ever really a game to begin with? *The Summer Storm is a short story that was written for an anthology that never happened. So I decided to make Wattpad its home.* **THIS STORY IS THE PROPERTY OF WATTPAD AND @MISSJINA. IF THIS STORY IS ANYWHERE OTHER THAN WATTPAD IT IS NOT THE ORIGINAL. PLEASE CONTACT ME IF YOU SEE ANY MIRRORING WEBSITES WITH MY WORK. THANK YOU***Complete
Destined By Fate
Kendall has always lived a quiet life in a small town in Illinois with her family, friends, and boyfriend Jordan. Her life had been mostly happy other than when her best friend moved away when she was 10. It took her years to get over that loss. Then several years later, tragedy struck when her father passed away suddenly and Kendall was forced to move with her mom closer to Chicago where she could find a job to support the two of them. Little does Kendall know that she is in for the surprise of a lifetime. From the book.... As he catches up to me, he grabs my arm swings me around and with one swift movement he ushers me into a nearby empty classroom with the lights off. He cages me in against the wall. His close proximity is making me dizzy and my mind is thinking very dirty thoughts. Wait no. I can't think like that anymore. "Kendall." He says hungrily. "You are mine and only mine. You drive me wild and no one else can have you." He says as he attacks my lips. It feels so amazing I can't help but kiss him back. I run my hands through his beautiful hair and he groans into the kiss. Man I don't want this to ever end. I feel drunk on him. I don't think I can let him go. He stops suddenly to finish his thoughts. "No one can make you feel like this. Or kiss you here...." He says as he kisses down my neck. I moan and he smirks pulling his face impossibly close to mine. "..or touch you." He says as he takes his hand and brushes it lightly down my arm and he snakes it back around my back pulling me even closer if that is possible. He finally stops at my ass which he squeezes delightfully and I hum in response. Warning: Contains graphic sexual content. Read at your own discretion. You will not be warned ahead of time. This is your only warning.Complete
If you met Maia you'd think of her as the same as anyone you've ever met. The girl on the magazine, and for a while, just for a while she wanted to believe the same thing. But she was different. The young girl does lose something that makes a life feel much looser, including their status, but there is always a boy, who won't give up. So eventually she has to stand up and take being stuck between guy crazy best friends who become her people, the guy, the dad who moves too fast, the sister who conceals her pain, the past she can't hide and a pen and paper patches up her life very slowly with tape and glue but at the very least ... some people are worth writing for and Maia is not simple. ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* . *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ When Maia loses her mother to cancer, she takes on high school life as if nothing ever happened. She lived the best of both worlds. After her mother's death, Maia promised herself she wouldn't be in any boy's pants to recover from her loss. She's isolated now. She's distant. Her mother's death has conflicted her thinking. Maybe she should just smile... it's what everyone chooses to do. But what if the muscles don't work the same as they once had? What if you have to start figuring life out in shades of grey.
More detailsContent Guidelines