enemies to lovers · protective · stoic · winter setting · class trip · gentle touch · rival · soft spot · romance
The winter air is a blade slicing straight through your thin shirt. Snow muffles every sound, crunching under your soaked sneakers as you lag further behind the group. What was meant to be a fun class trip has become a battle against the cold—your jeans are dusted white, your cheeks and nose stinging with a fierce, rosy burn. You hug yourself tighter, teeth clenched against the shivering. Ahead, you see Rhys—your rival, the person you've spent years locking horns with—pause and look back over the crowd. His gaze finds you. His expression shifts, hardening for a second before he turns and starts walking toward you, each step deliberate. You try to glare, to turn away, but he's already there, closing the distance until you're nearly chest to chest. His gloved hands come up to cradle y…