♡AN ENEMIES-TO-LOVERS ROMANCE♡
Attending the same college is the only thing Sebastian Hutches and Tara Van Doren have in common.
To Sebastian, Tara is a rich, spoiled girl, obsessed with her looks and status.
To Tara, Sebastian is a rude, arrogant...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
The sky outside the coffee shop window is inky, and the wet asphalt glistens under the amber streetlights. I'm on my third espresso. The barista has sent at least ten sympathetic looks my way, surely thinking my date stood me up.
She's not my date. Just someone I need to convince to move in with me. No big deal.
I avert my gaze to the almost cold, dark liquid in my cup, and as I take a sip, Elena's name flashes across the screen of my phone for the fifth time. The coffee tastes like bile now.
I barely have time to flip the gadget over when the bell at the entrance of the coffee shop chimes.
Tara steps inside, and relief threatens to drown me. She came, after all. Now I only have to be less of a jerk so she'd agree to room with me.
Sitting straighter, I wait for her to come up to my table. She makes a few steps forward and stops. It's when I realize she's not alone. A dark-haired guy is behind her, and irritation bubbles up within me.
She could've told me she was bringing her...boyfriend? Fuck buddy? Is he the reason she made me wait?
He mumbles something to Tara, who beams and nods. Instead of approaching me, he turns into the narrow hallway on my left where the bathrooms are.
"Bast," Tara says, sitting across from me.
Before an apology leaves her mouth, I speak.
"Who's he, Barbie? Another one of your baby boys?"
It's the lack of sleep paired with the frustration waiting for her caused. Those aren't the words I planned on saying, but it's too late — Tara's cheeks grow pink, and she swallows, glancing in the direction the guy she came with had gone.
"Yeah," she says quietly. "Another one because someone like me has lots of them. You know what? I think I'd better go before you insult me some more. Good luck looking for a roommate."
Tara's friend returns and stands by her side, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.
Tara jumps to her feet and turns to him. "Let's go, Mav. I can take you home now."
My eyes stay glued to Tara's back as she dashes to the door.
When they refocus on her friend, I see what I didn't before — something's off about him.
That he hardly spoke was a red flag I ignored, but it was the first of many. He shuffles his feet and doesn't look up from the ground. His shoulders are slumped as if he carries something heavy on his back, making it hard to guess his real height.
I grab my phone from the table and shove it in my pocket. At the bar, I leave a bill to pay for my coffee and tell the girl to keep the change.
I'm the one to bolt out of the Coffee4ever this time. My heart pounds, kicked into gear by the caffeine and fear of Tara leaving before I apologize.
