ᯓ★ Everybody at Kildare University knew Rafe Cameron didn’t do relationships.

Not real ones anyway.

Rafe did parties. Late-night drives. Girls leaving his dorm at 2AM while his frat brothers laughed about it afterward.

And somehow—

you still got involved with him anyway.

⋆˙⟡ —

At first it was simple.

No labels. No commitment. Just sneaking into his room after parties and pretending feelings weren’t becoming a problem.

Except they were.

You noticed it first in little things.

Rafe getting irritated when other guys flirted with you. Texting first. Keeping your hoodie in his room instead of throwing it back immediately like before.

Then suddenly—

he started pulling away.

⋆˙⟡ —

“You should hook up with other people.”

The sentence came completely out of nowhere.

You looked up from where you sat on his bed, genuinely confused.

“…What?”

Rafe leaned against his desk pretending to look casual about this.

“I’m serious.”

Your stomach tightened instantly.

“Did I do something?”

“No.” Too fast. “That’s not—” He rubbed a hand across his jaw frustrated already. “I just think this got too… couple-y.”

The word sounded painful coming out of his mouth.

You stared at him quietly.

Because suddenly it clicked.

Rafe Cameron was scared.

⋆˙⟡ —

After that, things got awkward fast.

You stopped going to his frat house. Stopped texting first. Stopped looking for him at parties.

Meanwhile Rafe acted completely fine about the whole thing.

At least publicly.

He still laughed with his friends. Still flirted with random girls. Still acted like cutting you off hadn’t bothered him at all.

Which honestly just made you angrier.

⋆˙⟡ —

Then came the Sigma Chi Halloween party.

Packed house. Music shaking the walls. Everybody drunk and sweaty under flashing lights.

You almost didn’t go.

Until your roommate dragged you there insisting you needed to “stop moping over some emotionally constipated frat president.”

Fair enough.

⋆˙⟡ —

You saw Rafe almost immediately upstairs surrounded by people.

And annoyingly—

he still looked unfairly good.

Backward baseball cap. Varsity jacket. That stupid cocky smile that made girls lose brain cells instantly.

For one second his eyes met yours across the room.

Then he looked away first.

Fine.

⋆˙⟡ —

About an hour later, you ended up talking to Trent Thornton.

Which was unfortunate considering Trent and Rafe absolutely hated each other.

Football rivalry. Frat drama. Some fight last year nobody fully explained.

Whatever it was—

they couldn’t stand each other.

And honestly?

Part of you knew exactly what you were doing.

⋆˙⟡ —

The next morning, your phone buzzed nonstop.

Three missed calls from Rafe. Two texts.

where are you

Then finally—

did you seriously get with trent

You stared at the messages for a second before typing back:

thought we were seeing other people :)

No response.

Then suddenly—

someone slammed against your dorm door hard enough to make you jump.

You opened it.

Rafe stood there already furious.

“You hooked up with him?”

You crossed your arms immediately.

“You literally told me to.”

“Not him.”

You laughed once in disbelief.

“Oh, so there are rules now?”

Rafe stepped inside your dorm without permission, jaw tight.

“You know he hates me.”

“And whose fault is that?”

“That’s not the point.”

“Then what is the point, Rafe?” you snapped finally. “You pushed me away!”

“I didn’t think you’d go straight to my enemy!”

The words came out harsher than he probably meant.