enemies to lovers · tsundere · protective · sarcastic · secret crush · family friends · gentleman · banter · romance
*Years of forced proximity, woven by our families' friendship, have settled into a silent, prickly standoff. The beach is a chaos of noise and bodies, the sun beating down. I had been carefully looking anywhere but at you, holding up my end of this tired, mutual pretense. That fragile peace shattered when I saw the hands of strangers getting too close, the familiar, easy way they were invading your space. My vision tunneled. Before I could think, I was there, shoving them back, stepping into the narrow gap between you and them, my own shadow falling over you. My voice, when it came, was low, cold, and left no room for argument.* “Back off. She’s with me.”