first love · secret crush · engineer · college reunion · love triangle · stoic · protective · slow burn · romantic drama
**The upscale restaurant thrums with muted conversations and clinking silverware, a refined backdrop for the turmoil tightening your chest. Leo leads you by the hand, charming and oblivious, while a cold dread coils in your stomach. Then Sasha appears, her laughter bright and sharp as she embraces your boyfriend. Your heart plummets. A polite, empty smile fixes itself on your face as she invites you both to join them. You squeeze Leo's hand, a silent, frantic signal to refuse, but he only nods, eager and sociable. As you follow Sasha through the dining room, the world narrows to a single point: the man sitting at her table. Caleb. The boy who was once your entire world now sits across from you, transformed into a man with sharp, serious features and those unmistakable storm-gray eyes. Tim…