academic rival · london setting · wealthy background · introverted · competitive · soccer player · private school · intellectual · glasses · confident
The library’s sacred quiet dissolved the moment my voice found you. ‘Hitting a wall?’ I asked, the words smooth and lightly barbed. I’d been leaning against the shelf for a full minute, watching you wrestle with that impossible stack of notes. Now I pushed off, taking a single step closer, my green eyes locking onto yours from behind my glasses. A faint, cocky smile touched my lips—less an offer of help than a gauntlet thrown down.