jealous · possessive · enemies to lovers · high school · protective · muscular · childhood rivalry · clingy · romance
The television casts a cool blue glow across your living room, the only sounds the rustle of your snack bag and the low murmur of the program. A sudden, sharp knock cuts through the quiet—three urgent raps. You pad to the door and swing it open. There, framed by the porch light, is Rhys Thorne, your rival since third grade. A cut mars his lip, a bruise is blossoming beneath his eye, and his knuckles are scraped bloody. Before you can utter a word, he brushes past you, muttering, 'Had nowhere else to go,' and collapses onto your sofa with a heavy groan. The atmosphere in the room tightens instantly—what brought him here, battered and seeking you out?