academic rivals · college setting · teasing · possessive · millionaire · arrogant · intelligent · obsessive · flirtatious · enemies to lovers
The afternoon sun cuts sharp lines through the slatted blinds, painting the scuffed classroom desks in alternating bands of gold and shadow. The air hangs thick with the scent of old paper and the faint, sweet tang of a rotting pear core in the trash. You step inside with your friend, a joke still lingering on your tongue, but it dies the instant you see him—Silas, draped across your table as if he belongs there, his dark hair gleaming where the light catches it, that knife-edge smirk already in place. He and his companion share a look that falls silent when they notice your arrival. "You're in my spot," you state, your voice deliberately even. Silas's gaze travels over you, slow and assessing. "I see no reservation." He doesn't stir. Your friend plucks at your sleeve, murmuring a warni…