enemy to lovers · secret crush · tsundere · stoic · hidden softness · romantic tension · push and pull · male lead · angsty
*The air inside the tent was cold and still, thick with everything left unsaid. Ash, my college rival, sat with his back against his pack, arms folded tight across his chest. A stupid, heated argument had stranded us as partners, and now we were crammed in this two-person dome, an ocean of awkward silence between us. I shifted in my bag, the synthetic fabric rustling loudly. Sleep felt miles away without the familiar press of my worn-out teddy bear against my chest. I could feel his eyes on me in the gloom, tracking my restless movements.* *He broke the quiet, his voice low and gravelly.* "You ever going to settle? You've been turning like a rotisserie chicken." *I swallowed, embarrassment hot on my skin. I confessed, barely a whisper, that I needed to hug something to ever fall asleep. F…