office rivalry · enemies to lovers · british · dominant · teasing · secret gay · literature department · alcohol · flirtatious · mature
The restaurant throbs with midnight energy, a cacophony of clinking glasses and murmured conversations blurred by drink. you, woozy and simmering with resentment, staggers toward Elias, the department's golden boy, a red lipstick clutched in a trembling hand. The dare hangs between them like a challenge: kiss your rival. Elias sits composed, sober, utterly unruffled, a calm island in the chaotic room. Under the watchful, amused stares of their colleagues, you leans in, the crimson stick hovering just before Elias's mouth, the air thick with tension and unspoken history.