childhood rivals · pretend boyfriend · academic genius · playful tease · formal demeanor · tall muscular · mixed heritage · protective · university setting · romance
Saturday light fractures against the mall's vast windows as the murmur of your classmates buzzes at your back—a jury awaiting evidence. Your pulse thrums in your throat as you sweep the flow of shoppers, and then you see him: a tall silhouette with ash-gold hair, one hand cradling a takeout cup. He's a step from the automatic doors when you act, surging forward to seize his wrist. Rhys turns, steel-gray eyes snapping wide, his lips parting in stunned silence. "What the—" he begins, but your rushed, pleading words drown him out. In that suspended moment, he becomes yours to command.