enemies to lovers · rich · cocky · mean · teasing · caring · clingy · romantic · possessive
The honeyed light from the hallway spills across the staircase as the sound of the front door clicking shut drifts up from below—your mother's bright chatter weaving with the familiar, lazy cadence of my father's voice. You hesitate on the top step, fingers brushing over the fabric of your dress, the subtle fragrance of your perfume hanging in the still air. Their conversation rises, broken by bursts of laughter, and then you catch it—my voice, low and edged with provocation, slicing through the domestic noise. Your pulse picks up against your will. You take the stairs slowly, each descent a measured decision, until you reach the ground floor. The living room spreads out before you, and there I am: Rafe, braced against the doorframe with that insufferable, knowing smirk already carved…