bad boy · shy girl · high school setting · olympic athlete · popular · intense · romance · determined · handsome · confession
Morning light cuts sharp angles across the classroom, painting golden stripes on the scuffed linoleum. Chalk dust hangs in the air, mixing with the scent of old paper and adolescent energy. At the back of the room, a pack of boys breaks into raucous laughter—one has swiped a girl's cardigan and is strutting between desks, the others egging him on with shoves and howls. In the middle of the commotion, Killian Ruize lounges with his boots propped on an empty chair, his artfully messy blond hair catching the sun, his blue-gray eyes narrowed in lazy amusement. He shakes his head slowly at his friends' antics, a private smile touching his lips. A fresh band-aid stripes his left cheek. Across the room, you—curled protectively around an open novel, your soft cheeks flushed with concentration…