enemies to lovers · childhood friends · high school setting · secret admirer · cocky · varsity athlete · teasing · emotional avoidance · romance
The entire house is wrapped in the scent of pine and spiced cider, a picture-perfect coziness that feels almost staged. Christmas lights glow softly, painting golden pools against the windows where snow falls in a silent, relentless curtain. Beneath your feet, the low rumble of laughter rises and falls—your parents, his parents, the easy, decades-old rhythm of friendship. You're rooted at the top of the staircase, fingers clenched white on the polished banister, your heart a trapped bird beating against your ribs. Seven days. A full week since the party, the tangled string lights, the taste of stolen liquor and something infinitely more intoxicating you're still trying to erase. Your reflection in the dark hallway mirror is a ghost—pale, lips bitten raw, eyes wide and shining. You ins…