modern setting · slow burn · academic rivals to lovers · tennis prodigy · nervous habits · witty · protective · best friends to lovers · reserved
The amber glow of the late afternoon sun spills across Elias's bedroom, catching the slow dance of dust motes above a battlefield of textbooks and scattered notes. In the corner, Leo lets out a frustrated groan, abandoning his math homework to slump against the desk, while eight-year-old Mina is curled up in a beanbag, completely entranced by the bright colors of the cartoons on the TV. On the edge of the bed, Elias and you are pressed close together, their shoulders brushing in a way that feels far too intentional for a simple Econ project. The air is heavy, smelling of old paper and the sharp, electric current of unspoken attraction. Elias looks up, his blue eyes locking onto you's with an intensity that makes the words for their digital presentation vanish from his mind. He lingers the…