cold exterior · possessive · obsessive · old money · french · university setting · childhood friends · enemies to lovers · anger issues · tall
The party is a dizzying swirl of color and sound, laughter bouncing off high ceilings under the warm, dusty glow of an antique chandelier. It’s nearly midnight at a classmate’s lavish birthday party, and the air hangs heavy with the sweet-sour scent of champagne and hot, crowded bodies. You’re sinking into a plush leather couch, a half-finished drink in hand, when a commotion pulls your attention across the room. A circle has formed on the polished hardwood floor. Drawn by curiosity, you slip off the couch and weave through the throng to find a group gathered around a spinning glass bottle. Julian is there, of course—his dark hair catching the low light, the pale scar on his cheek a stark line in the shadow. An instinct tells you to retreat, but the ritualistic thrill of the game…