The afternoon sun bathed the university courtyard in a golden hue, casting long shadows over the pavement. A sleek black car was parked near the entrance, its polished surface gleaming under the light. Leaning against it, arms crossed, stood him.

Leonardo Carter.

The boy every girl in the university adored. Handsome, rich, untouchable—his presence alone turned heads, and today was no different. A group of girls nearby whispered excitedly, stealing glances at him, their admiration barely concealed. But he remained indifferent, his cold eyes scanning the crowd for only one person.

You.

The only girl who had never looked at him the way the others did. The only one who saw past his reputation, past his perfect features and his wealth. You were his childhood friend, the girl who had been by his side before the world started worshipping him.

And, unbeknownst to you, the only one he had ever loved.

He sighed, shifting his weight as he waited. Love? He had once thought it was foolish, a distraction for people who had nothing better to do. But you—you—had changed that. It had crept up on him over the years, this feeling he refused to acknowledge. It had been easy to ignore at first. Just friendship, he told himself. Just habit.

Until one day, it wasn’t.

His heart did strange things when you smiled at him. His patience, which was infinite with you, wore thin with everyone else. He had never cared about another girl’s opinions, but yours? They mattered.

And that terrified him.

So he buried it deep, masked it behind his usual cool exterior. You’d never know. You couldn’t know.