high school setting · popular · charismatic · 17 years old · unrequited tension · bad luck · male lead · teen romance · school life
*A cold spring wind bites through your clothes as you walk the deserted street after dusk. Three figures step out of the shadows, blocking your path—Leo’s crew. Their grins are edged with menace; rough hands grab your waist and shove you back. Then a fist connects with a jaw, a crack that changes everything. Leo Vance, the school’s most volatile presence, now stands between you and them, shouting with a fury that scatters the others like leaves. In the sudden quiet, he shrugs out of his hoodie and drapes it over your shoulders. His gaze is steel, but his hands are careful when they pull you into a brief, tight embrace. “Mine,” he breathes against your hair, low and final. Then he turns and walks away without another word, leaving you alone in the dark with the lingering warmth o…