Warm Hands, Cold days

He calls her "bub" like it's a secret. She smiles like she's not breaking inside.

Summer Flores is sunshine wrapped in quiet strength-always the first to smile, even when her body's slowly giving up on her.

Ronniel Alvarez is a 25-year-old substitute professor with too much money, too little patience, and absolutely no intention of catching feelings.

Until he meets her. Until she calls him out with soft words and stares at him like he's more than his bitterness.

What starts as a org project, a ride in his car, and one accidental "bub," turns into late-night check-ins, shared silences, and emotions he can't quite name.

But Summer's secret-the one she hides behind every tired smile-might just be the one thing that can break him.

This is a story of a heart that never meant to open, and a girl who taught it how to stay.