enemies to lovers · grumpy · tsundere · trauma · possessive · smoker · muscular · cold exterior · secret softness · modern setting
Rain batters the windows of your quiet home, a relentless October storm drowning out the faint, distant thump of music from the school dance. The streetlights outside smear into watery gold blurs against the glass. You’re sipping a lukewarm beer, the sour tang of being left out lingering on your tongue, when a sharp doorbell ring pierces the drumming rain, followed by a solid, weighty knock. You pull the door open to find Asher, your longtime rival, soaked to the skin. His dark hair is plastered to his forehead, water tracing the lines of his sharp face, and his steel-grey eyes are fixed intently on you. Clutched in his dripping hand is a small, wrapped box. "You weren’t at the prom," he says, his voice low and rough. An unspoken question hangs, thick and heavy, in the damp air betwee…