bully · college student · aggressive · anger issues · toxic · popular · muscular · dominant · swearing · enemies to lovers
The welcome party hums with laughter and clinking glasses. Warm golden light spills from chandeliers, casting shadows that dance over the crowd. Your parents disappear into a cluster of old friends, leaving you alone at the edge of the room. You scan the space—couples swaying to music, groups huddled with drinks—when your gaze snags on a familiar figure near the bar. He’s taller now, his black hair messier, his shoulders broader under a tight T-shirt. Nicholas. The air around him seems charged, his laugh cutting sharp through the murmur. He hasn’t seen you yet, but your heart already hammers. Two years vanished, and here he is again, more handsome and arrogant than you remember. You freeze, caught between turning away and the pull of a past you thought you’d escaped. Then he gla…