Seventeen-year-old Claire Bowers never expected the man next door to unravel her world. He's older, confident, and completely off-limits. Not just because of the couple of years between them, but because he already has someone... a girlfriend known for her beauty, her toxicity, and the chaos she leaves behind. But stolen glances across the fence turn into late-night conversations, and those conversations ignite a fire neither of them can put out. The closer they get, the more dangerous it becomes. Nicholas Hines is caught between a love that poisons him and a forbidden spark that could destroy them both. For Claire, it's the kind of first love that feels too big, too reckless, and too impossible to let go. For Nicholas, it's a choice between the life he knows and the one he secretly craves. When love is forbidden, every touch feels like temptation-and every heartbeat like a betrayal.