The Lunch Without a Plan
Two people getting to know each other lose a reservation and spend an afternoon without either needing to prove a perfect host.
247 short stories
Romance
Page 6 of 9
Encounters that change our plans. Love that arrives when we least expect it.
Stories on this page
The Silence After Good News
A woman receives the job she has long wanted but is frightened when her partner responds with sadness he does not hide.
Love on Two Leashes
Two dog owners in love discover that their pets do not share their taste in company.
The Stop Where She No Longer Hides
Two women who have kept their relationship private must decide what they can promise each other in front of familiar faces.
The Kiss After the Wrong Name
At her first meeting with her partner's friends, a woman introduces herself wrongly and discovers how hard she is trying to fit in.
The Man Beyond the Finish Line
A runner tries to persuade her new partner to share her hobby until she realizes his place may be beside the course.
Two Signatures Beneath the Same Complaint
Two neighbors who rarely agree must write a simple request together and discover they have misjudged each other.
The Evening We Did Not Have to Win
A couple who turn everything into competition try to play a game whose result does not determine the mood for the rest of the day.
The Cake That Did Not Need Fixing
A man accustomed to soothing other people's disappointments discovers his new partner lets him be upset over something small.
Hands Full of Ordinary Things
Two people unskilled at grand declarations try to recognize care in small, sometimes awkward gestures.
The Shop Closed for a Kiss
Two people in a new relationship try to find time for a date between caring for parents and earning a living.
Only One Overnight Bag
During her first longer stay with her partner, a woman refuses to bring her whole life to prove the relationship is serious.
Three Cups Do Not Make the Same Breakfast
Three adults openly sharing love discover that a fair schedule does not necessarily give everyone what they want.
The Man Who Loved the Ending
A woman who always reads the ending first meets a man whose favorite part of every story is uncertainty.
In a House Without Proper Beds
Friends from their youth meet while emptying a house where they once imagined very different lives.
Breakfast Without a Favorite Seat
A widower and his new partner try to make their first breakfast together in a kitchen full of inherited habits.
The Surname I Already Had
Before a new marriage, a woman explains why the name from her previous marriage no longer belongs only to her former husband.
The Rest of the Evening Is Ours
Two people working at a recreation center discover they connect best when they stop entertaining everyone else.
The Tie with Little Oranges
At a clothing swap, two people want what the other is finally ready to stop wearing.
A Laugh Too Big for the Restaurant
On a first date, a woman decides to stop quieting the laugh she has hidden for years.
Fourteen Years to a Shared Key
After a long marriage at two addresses, a shared apartment reveals how intimacy differs from habit.
Beside the Empty Carousel
On the traveling fair's final evening, two workers must decide whether their relationship will remain tied to the season.
Words Across the Kitchen Table
At their first dinner without friends who usually translate, two people must find their own way to say what they want.
The Exit They Opened Together
A first date in an escape room stalls at the first lock, forcing two people to stop pretending they know more than they do.
The Final Driving Lesson
A woman learning to drive later in life discovers it is harder to invite her former instructor for coffee than to enter an unfamiliar street alone.
The Room for Practicing Bad Speeches
Two public-speaking students discover their most important sentences arrive only when they stop speaking as though before an audience.
The Dance After the Last Guest
Divorced parents at their son's wedding discover they can speak differently, but don't want to mistake one lovely evening for a ready answer.
Goodbye at the Third Stop
Two longtime friends on a short journey stop using jokes to hide what both feel.
The Dinner Where Everyone Was Busy
Two single guests realize their friends deliberately left them alone and decide to spend the evening on their own terms.
The First Attempt on the Climbing Wall
At a recreational climbing session, a woman discovers her new acquaintance matters more when he stops giving advice she didn't request.