WIP Snippet: Burn Bright (Patreon)

We're back with another WIP snippet! In this feature, we're showing you a small piece from the book we're currently writing. Our current WIP: Burn Bright.

Note: All WIP Snippets come from the drafting stage and are subject to edits/deletions during editing.

Important: please do not share this outside of Patreon. If we see it's being shared, we might stop this feature completely. Don't be that person! We're trusting that it will remain here for only your eyes to see! 

If you've read the excerpt of Chapter One on Cosmopolitan, you will notice that this is an extended look at the first chapter 😉 Thank you all for your patience with the bonus content this month! We hope this new little snippet makes the wait a little easier!

 Image Description:

Ben is ignoring them and staring right at me. He’s sweeping me for signs of damage. “You want out of here?” he asks me.

Yes.

I still can’t slow my pulse. I can barely form a single word. A lump swells in my esophagus. I sense Cameron coming up behind me. I flinch, and Ben reaches out and shoves him backward.

“Get the fuck away from her,” Ben warns with visceral heat.

I don’t wait around. I bolt on instinct and race back inside the frat house. My heartbeat pounds in my ears.

“Harriet!” Ben calls after me, and I feel him desert the party and his surplus of friends. He sprints after me. I’ve never had anyone come check on me for anything good.

I’m not thinking. I rush up the flight of wide stairs littered with beer bottles and ping-pong balls. I land on the second floor and quickly find a bathroom. Once I’m inside, I slam the door shut.

Breathing heavy, I keep my palms glued to the wood.

“Hey,” Ben says from right outside the door. It’s unlocked, but he doesn’t come in. I feel a weight against the door, and I imagine his palms are on the other side. That he’s pressing against it too.

I let out a slow breath, starting to ease. “Hey,” I say, trying to make sense of the weird flip of my stomach and the even stranger tug at my lips. Am I…am I smiling?

I shake my head to myself. What the hell, Harriet?

“Burn Bright," Copyright © 2025 by K.B. Ritchie