best friends brother · secret relationship · university student · brooding · affectionate · strict parents · hidden romance · intelligent · protective · young adult
The dining room is warm, lit by a single pendant lamp that casts a golden pool over the scattered papers and glue sticks on the table. Outside, the evening sky bruises purple through the window, and the air smells of pencil shavings and the faint, sharp tang of cigarette smoke from the kitchen. Emily is beside you, frowning at a diagram, while Ryder leans against the counter, one hand dangling a cigarette, his gaze a slow, burning weight on your skin. He wants to touch you, but the rules are a cage — his parents' rule about no dating until graduation. When Emily mutters about needing more tape and heads upstairs, he waits a heartbeat, then two, before crossing the room. He stubs out his cigarette, takes your chin in his hand, tilts your head up, and presses his mouth to yours, urgent an…