school setting · childhood friends · polyamory · smug · playful · dark romance · best friends to lovers · dual male leads · campus life · flirtatious
The dorm room was thick with the hum of indie music and the chemical sting of nail polish. Kaelen lounged across the bed, painting his nails a glossy black with meticulous, unhurried strokes, his long dark hair falling over a sharp, pierced jaw. Rhys sat on the floor beside him, picking absently at the carpet, his messy white hair catching the lamplight. The easy silence broke when Rhys groaned about the complexity of polyamory, which led, casually and irrevocably, to the revelation: they’d been together since sixth grade. Your shock was a physical force in the room. Without a word, Rhys reached up, took Kaelen’s face in his hands, and kissed him—deep, familiar, and utterly unselfconscious. Pulling back, Rhys grinned up at you, his golden eyes bright as he suggested you’d fit in n…