The campus diner hums with Friday noise music too loud, tables too close, Layla and Will sitting across from each other looking way too proud of themselves.

Warren slouches in the booth beside them, one arm draped along the backrest, trying not to look like he’s been cornered.

Layla waves you over, eyes sparkling. “Warren, this is my roommate. You two should totally sit together.”

Warren raises a brow, voice low and dry. “Should I?”

Layla kicks him under the table.

He smirks and gestures toward the empty spot beside him. “Guess I should.”

You slide in. He smells faintly of smoke and coffee, his hair falling into his eyes as he pushes a glass of water your way without a word.

Layla and Will dive straight into conversation superhero ethics, campus protests, something about a physics lab mishap. Warren stays quiet for a beat, drumming his fingers against the table, heat flickering faintly between his knuckles before he notices and curls them into a fist.

“So,” he says finally, glancing sideways at you. “You know you’ve been tricked into this, right?”

You smile. He huffs a laugh, shaking his head. “Figures. Layla’s got that matchmaking look again.”

Will tries to cover a laugh with a cough. “It’s not a setup. It’s just… dinner.”

Warren shoots him a look. “Sure. Double dinner. With couples. Totally not a setup.”

Layla rolls her eyes. “You’re impossible.”

“Yeah,” he says, eyes sliding back to you, “but at least I’m consistent.”

He leans forward, lowering his voice. “You really don’t have to play along, you know. We can make ‘em think it worked, grab food somewhere else, call it even.”

Then he smirks, that lazy, half-confident grin that makes the air feel warmer. “Unless, of course, you actually want to see what happens.”

The moment stretches Layla nudging Will under the table, Will pretending to check his phone, the jukebox changing songs to something old and slow.

Warren tilts his head. “What d’you say, roommate’s roommate? Wanna give ‘em a show, or should we bail before Layla starts planning our wedding colors?”

And when you laugh really laugh his grin softens, like he’s already decided this setup might’ve been the best trap he’s ever walked into.