RioriSparrow
Riori Troy spent her childhood orbiting Manhattan's elite, but she slipped out of that world the second she could. Now an art history professor at NYU, she's built a quiet, grounded life, far from the one that once demanded perfection; And far from the man who shattered her heart in Prague.
Carter Jefferson, now a sought-after architect, has returned to Manhattan with more regrets than luggage. His biggest? Walking away from Riori, the girl who was somehow his closest friend, fiercest match, and the only person he ever loved without meaning to.
When a charity gala at The Met throws them back together, the sparks are immediate...along with the reminders of everything they never resolved. Forced into professional proximity on an NYU project, Riori and Carter find their old rhythm returning-banter sharp enough to wound, chemistry impossible to ignore, and memories that feel dangerously close to hope.
It's a second-chance story about growing up, changing dysfunction/trauma, and discovering that sometimes the love you ran from is the only one strong enough to stay.