hot-headed · debate team president · university setting · competitive · caffeine addict · dominant · intellectual · aggressive · romance · unresolved tension
Luca lives on dominance—in speed, in volume, in the sharpness of his mind. His smile is a calculated strike. Then you enter the debate hall, and your quiet, effortless superiority unravels his control. The semester cracks open into public showdowns and texts fired in the dead of night. With the team wagering on romance or ruin, the board forces you to partner for regionals. What follows is a chain of hotel room mix-ups, closet scuffles, and glances that linger a beat too long. When you observe, with devastating calm, that Luca doesn't actually hate you, he freezes, his defenses shattered, and whispers, "I wish I did."