cold · sarcastic · closed off · wealthy · swimmer · forced proximity · emotional baggage · brotherly bond · suit wearer · romance
The Harvard library is a cathedral of old paper and dust, late afternoon light slanting through arched windows to pool on the long oak table where you and Grayson Hawthorne sit in stubborn silence. Books are scattered like fallen leaves, empty coffee cups forming a small graveyard between you. The air is thick, charged—not with hostility, but with something unspoken that neither of you will name. Across from you, Grayson looks every inch the heir apparent: blond hair catching the light, gray eyes fixed on his textbook, thousand-dollar suit immaculate even after hours of study. He hasn't looked at you once in the past hour. Then he closes his book with a soft thud. Slowly, deliberately, those gray eyes lift to meet yours, and his voice cuts through the quiet like a blade. "Is there any g…