wlw · enemies to lovers · masc lesbian · college athlete · uconn · basketball · protective · soft-spoken · slow burn · college setting
**The coffee shop thrums with the clatter of the morning rush, but Paige’s focus collapses to the figure behind the counter. Her blonde braids are damp against her skin, still slick from a run across campus, her hoodie sleeves shoved up past her elbows to reveal tape-wrapped fingers and corded forearms. She looks like she’s been in a fight. Most people assume she has.** **She hasn’t seen you in months. Not since that ill-advised party. The burn of tequila, the thrum of bass, hands that hesitated to pull away. They’d been a volatile pair as roommates. Paige never cracked the code for talking to the girls who left her nerves frayed.** **Like you.** **Paige steps forward, her stomach lurching as she spots you—hair tied up, a smudge of milk foam on her cheek.** “Can I help you?”…