Safe: Alpha Male U

By Isla Chiu

He wants to keep me safe.
But that's not all he wants...

A few weeks after leaving my jerk of a brother, I find myself broke and homeless. When I pick up a student ID, I think I've found my salvation. Little do I know that it would lead me to Graham Lang, who wants to keep me safe and to make me his...

Safe is a standalone book in the Alpha Male U series containing—you guessed it—hot alpha males, the women they're determined to claim for their own, and HEAs! 

 

WORD COUNT: 10,000

 

Excerpt: 

I joke, "You should stop treating me this well. Otherwise, I might never leave." 

My words cause him to stiffen. Wait, does he think I'm being serious? Oh Lord, the idea of me mooching off him indefinitely must be freaking him out. I say quickly, "I'm joking. Once I find a job, I'll be out of your hair." 

He passes a jug of maple syrup to me. "You can take your time with the job search. There's no rush." 

I bet he's just saying that to be polite. I drench my pancakes in maple syrup, prompting him to ask, "Do you have dental insurance?" 

"Um, no…" 

"You shouldn't have so much sugar. Cavity fillings are expensive." 

I want to roll my eyes. "I'll floss and brush my teeth thoroughly later." 

Under his slightly judgmental gaze, I devour the breakfast like it's my last. Regret fills me when my plate and glass are empty. This might be the last decent meal I have for a while; I should've savored it. 

"Hey, you got syrup on your lip," he says. 

"Oh, thanks." Before I can reach for a napkin, he rubs his fingers over my mouth. My heart skips a beat. He's so close to me now. I can feel his warmth and catch his scent. He smells like soap and lemons. 

I expect him to step back now that he's wiped the syrup off my lip, but his fingers remain on the edge of my mouth. He stares at me like I'm a half-finished puzzle he's been studying for hours. 

"Olivia." His voice is soft. 

I wait for him to say something else, but he just continues staring at me, his fingers still on my face. 

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Isla Chiu
• Release date: Mar 19, 2021
• ISBN: 9781393551188

Isla Chiu

When I manage to tear myself away from taking Buzzfeed quizzes and watching unhealthy amounts of TV, I write romance and smut. My works feature alpha males, sexy times, and/or my sarcastic sense of humor. I hail from Cleveland, aka the best freaking city in the world, and believe LeBron James is the perfect human being. Despite all of my efforts, I have never truly been able to quit caffeine. My favorites include Taylor Swift, Florence + the Machine, and SHINee. I love to hate/hate to love k-dramas. If I say I’m on a diet, I’m just lying to you and myself. One of these days, I'm going to get hypertension from an excess of salt, both literal and figurative. If I'm awkward around you, I probably don't know what to say to you and/or I think you're hot. And despite what anyone says, Forrest Gump so deserved that Oscar over Pulp Fiction.

Book preview

Caught

SWEAT FORMS ON MY PALMS as I stand in front of Arthur Marshall University’s recreation center. The place is huge and sleekly modern, a far cry from the cramped exercise room that my high school loosely defined as a gym. I glance at the student ID in my hand. Five minutes ago, I found it on a bench and picked it up, fully intending to take it to a lost and found. But then I remembered that Arthur Marshall University’s rec center is open 24/7. I kind of look like Lauren Lang, the owner of the student ID. Sure, she has double eyelids and I don’t, and her lips are thinner than mine. But hey, we’re both Asian girls. If the person at the front desk doesn’t pay too much attention, I could sneak into the rec center.

I bite my lip. I hate lying and am terrible at it, but I don’t have many options. After staying at a shitty motel and eating junk food for a couple of weeks, I’m officially broke. I tried finding a job, but after sending in a few dozen applications, I received exactly zero responses. So my options are one, I can sleep outside tonight, though according to the weather forecast, it’s supposed to drop to 30 degrees tonight; two, I can go back to living with my brother, though he’s a cocaine-addicted, emotionally unstable mess, not to mention he’s also just a straight-up asshole nowadays; or three, I can pretend to be Lauren, sneak into the gym, and find a nice spot to take a long nap.

Yeah, I’m going to go with option three.

Exhaling, I walk into the rec center, telling myself that I totally look like a regular Arthur Marshall University student. Yeah, Arthur Marshall University has an acceptance rate of like 8%, and I graduated from high school with a 2.9 GPA, but it’s not like people can smell my academic mediocrity.

When I’m inside, I stiffen as I scan Lauren’s student ID, prepared for the girl at the front desk to say, Hey, you’re not Lauren. Security! However, she doesn’t even look up from her phone as she says with total indifference, Hi.

Is that it? I step across the threshold, and I’m surprised when I’m not immediately dragged out of the gym by a security guard. Only when I have taken a few dozen steps do I let out a sigh of relief. Awe replaces my relief when I get a good look at my surroundings. Holy shit, this place is like a gym for rich people, which I suppose most of the students at Arthur Marshall are (tuition is something crazy like 50,000 dollars a year). There are rows of Peloton bikes, a massive pool fit for Olympic swimmers, massage chairs, and water fountains that serve Evian.

I gasp when a guy grabs a banana off a table that’s filled with snacks. There are bunches of bananas, piles of shiny apples, stacks of granola bars, and bags of almonds. Are the snacks free?! When a girl casually takes two granola bars, I have to stop myself from squealing with delight. Free food! Apples and bananas are far from my favorite fruits, but I’m still excited. It’s been too long since I’ve eaten anything that