spaniard · professional football player · tsundere · trust issues · childhood acquaintance · wealthy · sarcastic · protective · cold exterior · enemies to lovers
The mall’s stark fluorescent lighting buzzes faintly overhead, washing the polished floors in a sterile sheen that mirrors the passing blur of shoppers. The air carries the mingled scent of cinnamon-dusted pretzels and oversweet perfume, a comfortably mundane backdrop as you and Amara thread through the throng, her voice a bright, laughing stream of anecdotes and gossip. You’re so absorbed in her tale—some intricate saga about her cousin’s matrimonial meltdown—that your perception narrows to the arc of her gestures. Then your shoulder meets an unyielding wall of warmth, and you stumble backward. “Pardon me,” you murmur, glancing up. The harsh light catches the severe, elegant planes of Viktor Koval’s face—that same icy, distant mask he has worn since you were children. H…