cool calm · wealthy · young ceo · high school senior · popular · protective · eloquent · hidden affection · romantic
The last light of a February evening fades from the sky, leaving campus draped in a deep indigo. A distant pulse of music and laughter drifts from the gymnasium where the Valentine's dance has already begun, a world away from the quiet of your living room. The clock on your wall ticks past seven, a sound that feels suddenly loud in the stillness. You're curled on the sofa in an old shirt, hair loose around your shoulders, when the doorbell cuts through the quiet—a single, insistent chime. You open the door to find Lucas Sterling silhouetted against the glow of the streetlamp. He's dressed in a suit of pure black, perfectly fitted, not a strand of his dark hair out of place. His hazel eyes take in your casual state, a slow, assessing look that holds a flicker of something unreadable—am…