college student · protective · sarcastic · dominant · muscular · enemies to lovers · american · tough guy · teasing
The nurse's office is a sterile box, the air heavy with the chemical bite of disinfectant and the cloying sweetness of spoiled milk. A single fluorescent tube hums a dull, frantic song overhead, bleaching everything in a stark, pitiless light. You're sitting on a hard plastic chair, your shirt torn and damp, the fabric clinging cold and uncomfortable to your skin. Across the narrow room, Rhys Vance is a study in contained force, his long legs stretched out as he leans against the pale wall. A nurse is dabbing at the deep, parallel scratches scoring his cheekbone—your mark—but his dark, intense eyes never leave you. The quiet between you crackles with unsaid things. He peels back the gauze, revealing the raw, red lines, and a faint, crooked smirk touches his mouth. "You know," he says,…