Rival Lovers

| 020 |

My Saturday mornings were sacred. A ritual of sorts. Wake up at 9:00 AM, grab my favourite overpriced iced coffee from the campus café, and sit in the far corner of the library where no one dared bother me.

At least, that was the plan.

Instead, I found myself in the middle of the quad, standing in front of a giant poster board with "Campus Cleanup: Volunteers Needed!" scrawled in obnoxiously bright lettering.

"Tilly," I groaned, narrowing my eyes at my best friend. "Why the hell are we here?"

She grinned, holding up a neon green flyer. "It's called community service, babe. You should try it sometime."

"I'm not cleaning up random trash for free."

"It's not just trash," she said, jabbing a finger at the flyer. "There's also gardening, painting, and—you're gonna love this—building birdhouses."

I gave her a blank look. "Tilly, I don't even like birds."

She rolled her eyes, tugging on my arm. "Come on, it'll be fun. Besides, it's only a couple of hours, and then we can grab lunch. My treat."

I sighed, glancing around the quad. A handful of students were already gathering, most of them wearing bright volunteer shirts and looking far too chipper for a Saturday morning.

"Fine," I said reluctantly. "But if I end up covered in dirt, you owe me more than lunch."

Tilly laughed, dragging me towards the sign-up table. "Deal."

An hour later, I was regretting every life choice that had led me to this moment.

The so-called "gardening" turned out to be pulling weeds from the overgrown flowerbeds near the campus fountain. My knees were covered in dirt, my hands were scratched from thorns, and I was pretty sure I'd developed a new allergy to something.

"This is actual hell," I muttered, tossing another weed onto the growing pile beside me.

"You're such a baby," Tilly teased from a few feet away, where she was carefully trimming a bush. "It's just a little dirt."

I shot her a glare. "You're only enjoying this because you don't have to touch the ground."

She smirked. "Perks of arriving early. You snooze, you lose."

Before I could come up with a snarky reply, a shadow fell over me.

"Need some help?"

I looked up, squinting against the sun, and immediately groaned.

Of course.

Lucas Reed stood there, hands shoved into his pockets, looking far too amused for my liking. He was wearing a black hoodie and jeans, the sleeves pushed up to reveal his stupidly muscular forearms.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, already annoyed.

"Volunteering," he said, flashing a grin. "What does it look like?"

"It looks like you're here to annoy me," I shot back, brushing dirt off my hands.

Lucas chuckled, crouching down beside me. "Relax, princess. I'm just here to help."

"I don't need your help."

"Clearly," he said, glancing at the pile of weeds I'd collected. "You're doing a great job all on your own."

I glared at him, but he just smirked, grabbing a pair of gloves from his back pocket and slipping them on.

"Seriously, Lucas," I said, crossing my arms. "Go bother someone else."