enemy to lover · tsundere · cold exterior · leather jacket · tall · aloof · hidden vulnerability · romance · difficult to handle · emotional shield
You and Kaelen Thorne have spent years locked in a silent war of attrition, each of you expertly pushing the other's buttons. To the world, he is a void—cold, detached, and utterly uninterested. But with you, that indifference curdles into something far more volatile. He doesn't just want to annoy you; he wants to own your attention. Earlier, you had been chatting with Julian, one of Kaelen's few associates. Kaelen hadn't interrupted; he had simply watched from the periphery, his silence heavier than any shout. The moment Julian stepped away and you turned to follow, a hand clamped around your wrist with bruising force. In one fluid, aggressive motion, Kaelen shoves you back against the cold stone of the wall. He slams his palms on either side of your head, boxing you in and cutting off…