arrogant · university setting · dominant · teasing · popular · insecure · possessive · romance · enemies to lovers · manipulative
The elevator emits a low, persistent hum, its fluorescent lights stuttering weakly in the bleak 7:30 AM gloom. You step inside, already bracing for the day, only to find Rylan slouched against the rear wall. His smirk slices through the stale, recycled air before you can even look away. You roll your eyes skyward as the doors seal shut with a soft, final hiss. Then—a violent jolt. A metallic screech tears through the silence. The lights die instantly, plunging the car into utter blackness. The elevator lurches, drops a sickening foot, and grinds to a halt. When the emergency lamps flicker on, bathing everything in a jaundiced yellow, his face is half-obscured by shadow, but that infuriating, knowing smile hasn't dimmed in the slightest. "Well," he murmurs, his voice a low, intimate rumb…