Short and Not So Sweet: A Short Story Collection

By Isla Chiu

This collection contains 5 sizzling short stories featuring sexy alpha males and the women they want to claim for their own. Includes:

My Best Friend's Brother
The Cowboy Gets His Runaway Bride
Blackmailed by My Husband's Rival
How to Finish Your Dissertation
Trapped in an Elevator with My Two Exes

My Best Friend's Brother

My heart does another stupid little somersault when I think about seeing Connor again. The last time I saw him, I was a lovesick teenage girl who secretly bawled like a baby when he left for college in California. Now I'm a broke 26-year-old convenience store clerk and he's a 28-year-old hotshot app developer who has returned to the town he grew up in. A lot of things have changed, but I bet he will still see me as his little sister's best friend — and nothing more.

The Cowboy Gets His Runaway Bride

It looks like Heather is trying to be a runaway bride. I say trying because I sure as f**k ain't going to let her succeed. She's my woman, and she's going to be my wife, whether she likes it or not.

Blackmailed by My Husband's Rival

I can't believe that I'm desperate enough to consider the indecent proposal of my husband's rival. I so want to refuse him, but if I say no to him, my mom might end up being buried in debt for the rest of her life.

How to Finish Your Dissertation

I'm struggling to finish my dissertation. Lucky for me, my husband Rick came up with a creative way to motivate me to finish my 200-plus page paper.

Trapped in an Elevator with My Two Exes

I rub my temples. Just an hour ago, I was worried about my interview. Now I'm caught between my two exes, who both want me back and are now willing to give me what I want.

Contains approximately 7,500 words.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Isla Chiu
• Release date: Mar 25, 2021

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

My Best Friend’s Brother

T hanks again for doing this, I say to Danielle, my best — well, only — friend. I clutch my battered duffel bag, which holds all of my meager possessions. For a second, I worry about Dad and wonder what he’s going to eat for dinner. He doesn’t know how to cook, and I doubt that he has enough money for takeout. Then I remind myself that he doesn’t give a damn about me. So why should I give a damn about him?

You don’t need to thank me, Danielle says. My brother’s penthouse apartment is huge. Honestly, it’s a crime that he lived alone in such a massive place for so long.

My heart does a stupid little somersault when I think about her older brother Connor. When we were growing up, I had a major crush on him. And as he got older and more handsome, my crush only worsened. Now he’s a ridiculously attractive tech millionaire who appeared in several local publications’ lists of Cleveland’s most eligible bachelors, and I’m going to live with him.

When we get out of the car, my mouth turns dry as I look up at the sleek and modern apartment building. It just screams, Members of the 1% live here. So different from the small and old apartment complex I left behind. The place I shared with Dad never had a shortage of cockroaches or mold on the walls.

The doorman is polite to us but raises his eyebrow ever so slightly as he looks at me in my ink-stained t-shirt and (unintentionally) ripped jeans. I bet he is thinking, What is this poor person doing here?

As we step into the elevator, I check my phone to see if I received any texts from Dad and curse myself for my stupidity. Of course Dad didn’t text or call me. He’s probably too busy getting wasted at a bar to notice that his only daughter moved out of his apartment.

You need to stop worrying about your old man, Danielle says. I cringe. My friend doesn’t miss a damn thing. He’s a selfish asshole, so you shouldn’t let him live rent-free in your head. Then she adds, Especially since you allowed that useless piece of shit to actually live rent-free in real life.

I cringe again. My