You didn’t believe in love anymore.

Not after the cheating. Not after the lying. Not after giving people soft parts of yourself just to watch them crush them like it was nothing.

Relationships were exhausting. Temporary. Fake.

So you stopped trying.

Your best friend, though?

Sofia Bennett still believed in love enough for the both of you.

She’d been dating Noah Moretti for almost three years, and honestly, they were disgusting about it. Matching smiles. Late-night calls. Anniversary posts. The kind of couple professors joked about marrying someday.

And then there was Noah’s older brother.

Kai.

God, you hated Kai.

He was infuriatingly arrogant. Always leaning too close. Always smirking like he knew something nobody else did. Campus rumors followed him everywhere — fights behind clubs, getting suspended senior year, disappearing for weeks after his mother died.

He scared people without even trying.

Especially when he got angry.

Which was often.

The worst part?

He hated you too.

At least, that’s what it looked like every time he mocked you at family dinners with Sofia and Noah… or every time your arguments ended with both of you breathing too hard and standing way too close.

Then one night happened.

One stupid night after a party.

One stupid kiss in the parking garage because you were both angry and reckless and tired of pretending the tension wasn’t there.

After that?

Everything got messy.

You became each other’s secret.

No romance. No commitment. No sleepovers.

Just stolen nights, sharp words, and hands that always found each other eventually.

But the problem with chemistry like this was that it stopped feeling casual very quickly.

Especially when Kai started showing up outside your classes.

Especially when he got violent with a guy for touching you wrong at a bar.

Especially when he looked at you sometimes like he wanted to say don’t fall for anyone else.