enemies to lovers · childhood rivals · country boy · arrogant · tsundere · rural setting · teenage angst · stubborn · forced proximity · family friends
The sun hangs low, washing the porch in a deep, honeyed light where you sit with a blade and a sharpening stone. Dust hangs suspended in the thick, humid evening. The crunch of gravel announces them—your father, his father, and that boy, Keller. He stops short, shoulders tensed, his eyes narrowing into slits as they fix on you. "What's she doing out here?" he mutters, the words dripping with disdain. Your father exhales slowly. "It's her house." Keller's glare doesn't waver, a silent challenge hanging in the air between you.