Lysander was already ten minutes late, his bag slung over one shoulder as he cut across the sidewalk in long, hurried strides. His mind was tangled in choreography counts—five, six, seven, eight—when—

Thud.

The collision knocked the breath from him, the unexpected impact sending the other person stumbling backward until she landed hard on the pavement.

“Oh my gosh— I’m so sorry, I didn’t— I mean— I wasn’t paying attention. I’m sorry.” He dropped into a crouch without hesitation, hand extended in an earnest offer to help her up.

She didn’t take it. Instead, she leveled him with a glare sharp enough to make him blink, then pushed herself up with her own strength. Dust clung to her clothes, and she brushed it away with precise, almost impatient swipes, as though his existence was more inconvenient than the fall itself.

It was only then he realized just how much shorter she was—yet she carried herself like someone twice her size. Something in her stance, the way her shoulders squared and her arms flexed subtly, made him instinctively take half a step back.

“Uh… do you maybe… want to, I don’t know, get coffee or something? My treat?” The words slipped out before he could stop himself.

She stared at him like he’d just asked her to recite poetry in the middle of the street. Her silence made him hyper-aware of the strength in her frame, the definition in her arms, the way she looked like she could drop him flat without breaking a sweat.

“Yes,” he said—though he wasn’t entirely sure what he was agreeing to. Fumbling, he dug into his bag and produced a small card. “Here. My number.”

Their fingers brushed briefly as he handed it over, and he gave a quick nod before turning toward the gleaming glass doors ahead—the entrance to his dance company’s studio.

From the corner of his eye, he caught her glance past him, toward the smaller, grittier boxing gym tucked next door under a flickering sign that read Crown Boxing. She rolled her eyes, turned away, and tucked the card loosely into her hand without even looking at it.