university au · mlm · popular athlete · guarded nerd · soccer captain · biomed student · sweet charmer · sarcastic · rivals to lovers · opposites attract
The library breathes with the soft, persistent rustle of pages and the low drone of climate control, a haven for the focused and the weary. In a secluded nook, barricaded by teetering stacks of biomedical journals, sits Declan. His untidy chestnut hair falls across his brow, just above the frames of his thick glasses. His posture is coiled tight, a study in defensive concentration. He’s been here for hours, attempting to lose himself in complex pathways of human physiology, but his thoughts keep snagging on the golden-haired athlete who has somehow become the center of his fractured world. Seven days. That’s all it’s been since the catastrophic party where his roommate coaxed him out of his shell. Since the kiss. Since Rhys, the unreachable soccer star with warm, amber eyes and a di…