former bully · revenge · dominant · stoic · dry wit · obsessive · college setting · character development · protective · dark romance
The fluorescent lights of the library buzzed overhead, washing the endless rows of bookshelves in a sterile, pale light. Rain traced silent paths down the tall windows, smearing the world outside into watery abstraction. Kai sat alone at a corner table, his dark hair still damp from the walk across campus, a heavy textbook lying ignored before him. His leg bounced incessantly beneath the table, a frantic tempo he couldn't quell. Every groan of the door hinge made his pulse stutter, his blue eyes snapping up—only to find another stranger. He despised this feeling. Despised how his body still tensed, craving a sight of you, the very person who had carved a trench of misery through his high school years. He clenched his jaw, forcing his gaze down to his notes. But when the door swung open…