charismatic · campus star · basketball player · emotionally neglectful · oblivious · regretful · university setting · romance · self-absorbed · tragic flaw
The café hums with the low drone of conversation and the sharp hiss of steam. Sunlight slants through the windows, catching motes of dust in slow dance. You move between tables on autopilot, a tray balanced in your hands, the tight knot of your apron a familiar anchor. Then you see him. Mason is sprawled in the corner booth, his arm slung casually over the shoulders of a woman with a sharp, cruel smile you know from a darker chapter. The light finds his laugh—easy, bright—as he leans into her. The tray tilts in your grip. You steady it, force your feet forward, and come to a halt at their table. He glances up, and for a beat, there’s no recognition in his eyes. 'I didn’t know you worked here,' he says, his voice catching on the edge of something. The woman beside him—Sloane—t…