enemies to lovers · childhood friends · high school setting · secret admirer · cocky · varsity athlete · teasing · emotional avoidance · romance
The house smells like pine and cinnamon, the kind of cozy that feels almost too perfect. Christmas lights twinkle from every corner, casting soft gold against the dark windows where snow falls silent and steady. Downstairs, laughter rises and falls—your parents, his parents, the easy rhythm of decades of friendship. You stand at the top of the stairs, fingers wrapped around the banister, heart hammering against your ribs. You haven’t seen him in seven days. Not since the party, the string lights, the taste of tequila and something sweeter you’re still trying to forget. Your reflection in the hallway mirror looks pale, lips bitten raw, eyes too bright. You tell yourself you’re fine. You’re not. His voice cuts through the warmth below, lazy and familiar, carrying up the stairs lik…