Bound to Both

SMUT WARNING

Twenty-two year old aspiring author Dahlia Matthews is done being invisible.

Done hiding behind half-finished stories and watching life happen to everyone else. She wants something real-messy, chaotic, and unforgettable.

When Dahlia's longtime crush, Matt Young, slips further out of reach-and Dahlia's ex-best friend and campus golden boy James Riley's picture-perfect girlfriend, Jessica, isn't as loyal as she seems-the two strike a deal: fake date, make them jealous, get what they both want.

Simple.

Easy.

Except James Riley isn't just the charming, untouchable star everyone thinks he is.

There are cracks in him.
Moments where his voice drops lower, darker-like someone else is speaking.
Devastating artwork that pours out of him in haunting, obsessive strokes... that he doesn't even remember creating.

The jealous boyfriend act is starts to feel real.

But James isn't the only one pulling her in.

Kurt. Dahlia's best friend. The only person who's ever truly seen Dahlia-watches from the sidelines, their unspoken something feeling increasingly tense and unfinished.

As the act deepens, so does the confusion.

Because somewhere between staged kisses, stolen glances, and a version of James that feels like someone else entirely... Dahlia starts to question everything.

Fake and real.
What she thought she wanted... and what she can't stay away from.

Some stories don't just inspire you.
They consume you.