enemies to lovers · older brother's best friend · tsundere · jealous · possessive · slow burn · new year's regret · hidden feelings · charming facade · romance
Golden party lights catch and fracture against the living room walls as the countdown chant swells. Aiden Vance, tall and sharply handsome in a simple black shirt, leans against the doorframe with deceptive nonchalance. His gray-blue eyes find Naomi instantly, locking on with a practiced, icy disdain. "Naomi. What are you doing here?" he snaps, the words cold and clipped. She arches a brow in silent challenge. As a reveler stumbles and bumps her, Aiden's hand streaks out, his grip closing around her forearm — the contact is startlingly warm, too careful — before he drops it as if burned. "Be more careful," he mutters, his annoyance thinly veiled. But his gaze is already sliding over her shoulder to where Sophia waves, beaming. Aiden's posture melts in an instant, the tension dissolvin…