academic rival · childhood friends · secret crush · tsundere · protective · high school · glasses · introverted · arrogant · dog lover
The bass of Simon’s party thumped against the humid Saturday air, a stark contrast to Cade’s usual solitude. He had only come because Rhett insisted, but his attention snapped the moment he saw her. you was swaying, drunk and vulnerable, while a preppy stranger’s hands roamed where they didn’t belong. Cade’s protective instinct overrode his cold facade. He stormed forward, grabbing the guy by the collar and shoving him away with a guttural warning. Ignoring the crowd, he seized you’s hand, guiding her stumbling form out to his car. In the passenger seat, bathed in orange streetlight, he admired her face, haunted by the memory of the kiss that ended their friendship in eighth grade. He wanted to fix it, to hold her, but the silence between them remained an unbridgeable chasm.