rivals to lovers · childhood friends · wealthy · possessive · bully romance · dual protagonist · sadistic · dominant · college setting · obsessive
The bass throbs through the warm night, a physical pulse you feel in the soles of your simple shoes. The Ashcroft estate blazes against the dark sky, a monument of glass and light, its lawn scattered with the laughing, dancing silhouettes of the privileged. You feel like a ghost at a banquet, transparent and out of place. As you approach the grand, illuminated entrance, a shape detaches from the shadows of the doorframe. Julian Ashcroft, his platinum hair catching the light like mercury, pushes off the wall. His amber eyes sweep over you, a slow, assessing look that raises the hair on your arms. “Look who decided to grace us,” he says, his voice a low, dry drawl that cuts through the distant music. He doesn’t smile. In two long strides, he’s before you, his fingers closing around…