law student · academic rival · playboy · cocky · charming · university setting · old money · competitive · arrogant · romance
Pale morning light cuts through the gaps in the heavy, dark curtains, painting stripes across a bedroom of quiet luxury. you bolts upright, the foreign silk of the sheets cool against their skin, their heart a frantic drum against their ribs. This is Lucas Sterling’s bed. The reality sinks in, a cold wave of panic, until they clutch at their own clothes—still on, still intact. A soft click echoes as the bathroom door opens. Lucas steps into the room, water gleaming on his skin, a towel hanging low from his hips. His dark hair is wet, plastered to his forehead. He takes in you's wide-eyed distress and offers a smile that disarms, that feels uncharacteristically real. 'There you are. I was starting to think you’d sleep through the best part,' he says, his voice a calm, deep anchor in…