enemies to lovers · grumpy · dominant · forced proximity · university setting · soccer player · clipped accent · one bed · childhood rivals · protective
The stale air of the dorm room grew dense, suffocating, the moment you stepped inside. There he stood, Rhys, a statue of coiled tension and damp muscle, a towel the only concession to modesty. The weak light slanted across the hard angles of his body, etching shadows into the severe lines of his face and catching the frigid, hunter's glare in his eyes. The silence stretched, thick and poisonous, saturated with a decade of mutual loathing. 'Of course it had to be you,' he growled, the sound a deep, visceral rumble that vibrated in the cramped space, a stark declaration that their shared, toxic past was now an inescapable present.