tennis player · cocky · insecure · anxious · pansexual · meeting the parents · college romance · touchy · competitive · loving
The Vance estate glows with the curated, deceptive warmth of a thousand tiny lights woven through fragrant pine and blood-red holly. A string quartet’s rendition of a Christmas standard floats from hidden speakers, a cloying melody that does nothing to blunt the cold precision of the marble foyer. You stand on the vast, polished floor, your reflection fractured in the gleaming surface, as Cameron’s hand closes around yours—a grip that is fierce, almost pleading. His knuckles are bone-white, his jaw locked tight, and you recognize the tempest brewing behind those storm-blue eyes from the silent nights spent between tournaments. He delivers your introduction like a line from a script he despises, already trying to draw you back toward the grand doors. But his mother’s palm settles o…