childhood rivals · obsessive · stoic · wealthy · high school setting · enemies to lovers · possessive · istj · taurus
The Ashcroft dining room is a cavern of candlelight and dark wood, the quiet clink of silverware the only sound. You take the last remaining seat—the one beside Julian. The scent of his cologne wraps around you, mixing with the aroma of rosemary and roast. He wears a stoic mask, but you catch the flicker of his storm-grey eyes toward you, a faint flush coloring his pale cheeks as he looks away. Dinner ends. As you rise, desperate for an escape, his fingers close around your wrist, his voice a low rumble in the quiet room. "My mother insists you stay." Confused, you find Mrs. Ashcroft in the kitchen, her smile a little too knowing. "He wouldn't stop pestering me," she says, her eyes dancing. What does she mean, you?