Showing results by author "Melissa Toppen" in All Categories

I remember the first time I saw Sutton Barnett in perfect detail–like a fragment of time suspended in front of my eyes. I remember his shirt–faded blue against tanned skin that had seen countless hours of the summer sun. Wet droplets peppered his shoulders from where his still wet hair had dripped onto the fabric. He rounded the bottom of the stairs, our eyes meeting for only a fraction of a second before he looked away, but it was long enough for me to know right then and there that nothing would ever be the same again.

Our parents’ friendship meant we had to co-exist. But it didn’t mean we had to like it. He purposely did things to get under my skin. Like spreading rumors about me in junior high so no boys wanted to go out with me. Or sleeping with several of my high school friends, just to prove he could.

Arrogant. Egotistical. Playboy. Three words that perfectly describe Atlas Keaton. My twin brother’s best friend. The absolute bane of my existence. And my new college roommate. It wasn’t by choice of course. The last thing I wanted was to be forced to endure a full semester living under the same roof as him and my brother. But when a housing mix-up leaves me 3,000 miles away from home with nowhere else to turn, I don’t really have another option. It’s only four months, how hard could it be, right? Wrong...

Time is a funny thing. It keeps moving even when it feels like everything around you stops. It is the catalyst for everything. How we grieve. How we heal. How we live. Time was the one thing I tried but could never escape. Days passed in his absence. Months. Years. And I stood still. Stuck in the past. Paralyzed by the memory of him. Nash Ketter had been my whole world for as long as I could remember. The person I loved with my entire being. He was the sun, the moon, and the stars. He was everything. And then one day, he was gone… Just like that. Like he had never existed at all.

It was destiny - the night I met Hudson Demasi. I remember how effortlessly he stole my heart - his dark eyes and quick smile forever etched into my mind. We spent one incredible night together under a haze of tequila - a perfect night. And when I woke the next day, he was gone. I never expected to see him again - especially not five years later standing on a stage in front of thousands of screaming fans as none other than hot, new country artist, Hudson James.

I fell in love with Sutton Barnett the first time I saw him. I couldn’t explain it, or rationalize it, but in some weird way, it’s like I knew he was the one that would change everything. And he did. Just not the way I expected. I blamed him for my pain. Let it fester in my chest, until it had ripped apart any shred of the girl I once was. But he wasn’t the first to break me. No, that came before Sutton. Before his bright blue eyes made me believe in something more.

Life is full of choices- of chances- of moments. Chances we regret not taking. Choices we wish we could change. And then there are the moments that define us. Kam was my choice.... The one who stole my heart instantly. Kane was my chance.... The one who set me ablaze with just one look. They were my moment.... Two brothers that both owned a part of me. Two brothers that I loved in different ways for different reasons. One brother shattered my heart. The other put it back together. Both changed me forever.

They say everything happens for a reason - that there’s always a light at the end of the tunnel. For the longest time, I didn’t think that was true. I had stumbled around in the dark for so many years that I didn’t think I would ever find my way out. But when I finally did, it came in the most unexpected way. Miles Hollins had been my brother’s best friend for as long as I could remember. We didn’t like each other much growing up. Or rather, we couldn’t stand each other.

I want him. Unlike I have ever wanted anything before in my entire life. I knew it from the very moment his eyes met mine; the way my skin burned under his dark gaze. I knew nothing would ever be the same again. Decklan Taylor isn’t just tempting; he’s dangerous - a storm who destroys everything in his wake. But even as I stand in the path of his force, I can’t turn away. While he may be the very thing that breaks me, he’s also the only thing that has ever made me feel alive. Sometimes falling in love is more than just crazy, it's downright stupid.

Sham. Fraud. Hoax. All words that describe my relationship with Callum Hanson. It didn’t start out that way. We used to be friends. That is until high school, when Callum decided he was too cool to be seen with his less than popular next-door neighbor.

Years passed. Moments faded into the background. Until eventually, he became nothing more than a distant memory—a dream that almost didn’t seem real. But then suddenly he’s there, standing in front of me again like he never left. And in that one heartbeat, in that one breath, I relive it all over again. Every touch. Every word. Like frozen snippets of time suspended in front of my eyes.

They say life never gives you more than you can handle. Tell that to someone who didn’t just watch the perfectly placed pieces of her future go up in flames. Enter Liam Mason. Mysterious. Sexy. An obvious playboy. And even though he’s the last person I should want, I can’t help but be drawn to him. Like a moth to a flame, I simply can’t look away. I convince myself it’s just a rebound. Who could ever be foolish enough to fall for a man who might as well have womanizer tattooed on his forehead? But matters of the heart aren’t always so simple.

Eight years ago I ran. I ran from my parents. I ran from my pain. I ran from him, and I never wanted to go back. If not for my best friend’s wedding, I likely never would have. The plan was simple. Get in, get out. Easy as that. Only I should have known nothing is ever that simple. Especially when Westin Carver is involved. He broke my heart once. Or rather, he completely annihilated it. And I have no doubt that if given the chance, he’d do it all over again. But even knowing that, it doesn’t change the way I crave him

Time heals all wounds. That’s what they say anyway. But I believe some wounds never actually heal. Like the hole left in my heart where Jake used to be. The pain a permanent reminder of what I had, and what I lost. A piece of me died with him that day. A part of myself I thought I’d never get back. But then he happened. Zayne. Unexpected and exciting, he’s everything I shouldn’t want and yet somehow, exactly what I need. He challenges me in a way I’ve never been challenged. He makes me see the person I used to be—the happy carefree girl with her whole life ahead of her.

Fabrication. The one word that describes my entire life. They didn’t want me to know my true identity. Now, I know why.... Abducted. Held against my will. I’ve become a bargaining chip in a blood feud that spans decades. Mateo Rivera is the one calling the shots. His father’s death put him in charge. Now he holds all the power. I should have known that he would ruin me the moment I laid eyes on him. And he did. He introduced me to a whole new world. One filled with danger and desire. I wasn’t just his prisoner. I was his prize.

Paxton Stewart.... The boy I spent my entire childhood pining after. He never saw me of course. To him I was just a child. His best friend’s baby sister. A silly little girl. Until I wasn’t anymore.... I thought I could be the one to change him. The one to tame him. Instead, I became one of the many broken hearts he left in his path.

Gavin Porter...Now that’s a name I wish I never had to hear again. In just one night, he managed to turn my entire world upside down. I’m determined to move past it. But life doesn’t always cooperate, especially when my roommate is now shacking up with his best friend. If he thinks his boyish charm and crooked smile are enough to make me forget, he has another thing coming. The heart is a fragile thing. I have no intention of putting mine back in the hands of a man hell-bent on seeing how far it will bend before it finally breaks.

It’s funny how differently we view life when we’re young. Everything feels possible- limitless. If only things could stay that way forever. Then maybe life wouldn’t be so complicated. Maybe Jace would still be the same ten-year-old boy I fell in love with. Maybe I’d still be that same girl too. The girl who believed that there wasn’t anything we couldn’t overcome. But I’m not that girl anymore. Time has beaten me down, broken me, taken everything from me. And it’s taken even more from Jace. I naively believed that I could save him...From his dad. From his anger.

For years, I’ve been planning my escape. Preparing for the day when I could leave home and never look back. But when the moment came, it didn’t happen like I had planned. I didn’t pack up my car and drive away, watching my old life disappear in the rearview mirror like I had always envisioned I would. Instead, I ran — quite literally — as fast and far as my feet would take me. I didn’t know where I was going, only that I had to get away. And that’s when he found me....

You never get over your first love. It’s something I’ve heard countless times. Like someone has to point out that your pain will never go away. That your shattered heart will never mend. Because that’s exactly what my heart did the day I watched Asher Evans board that train - it shattered, splintering into a million tiny fragments that I didn’t think I’d ever be able to piece back together. He was the boy I had loved since I understood what loving someone mean.