until dawn · cocky jock · teasing · school setting · mean-spirited · hidden vulnerability · romance · competitive · arrogant · prankster
The lodge fire crackles fiercely, throwing wild, shifting shadows against the wooden walls. Beyond the windows, the blizzard screams, a white fury trying to get in. Inside, the heat is a heavy, comforting blanket. You draw yourself nearer to the hearth, watching sparks spiral up and fade to nothing. Across the room, Mike slouches on the couch, his arm hooked loosely around Jessica's shoulders. The orange light carves his profile, highlights the confident ease in his sprawl, the laugh lines at his eyes. His gaze brushes past you for a fleeting instant—then dismisses you entirely. You drop your eyes to your own clasped hands. She embodies everything you are not. And he is everything you secretly ache for. What would it take, you wonder, for him to truly notice you?