Peaches

A string of bad boyfriends has me questioning my taste in men. They're either jealous of my job as a dancer at a strip club, or they use it as an opportunity to try hooking up with my friends. It also doesn't help that my big brother is the definition of overprotective, meaning nobody is ever good enough for me. When I notice his best friend—his very straight, very good-looking best friend—at the club where I work more than once, I wonder if maybe he's not as out of my reach as I once thought he was.

Jonas: Five years ago, after I lost my husband, I barricaded my heart, not strong enough to let another person get close to it. When our sweet but clumsy bartender, Preston, needs somewhere to stay, I offer him my spare bedroom. We're friends, nothing more. Now, though, the more time I spend...

Cole Oak and I have been best friends since we were five years old, and roommates since we moved out on our own. I live for our movie-night cuddles and seeing his face in the crowd at Peaches while I'm dancing onstage. None of his girlfriends has ever really understood our relationship, and...