Seventeen-year-old Leila Dawson thought she knew what life was supposed to look like: a sleek Manhattan apartment, her multimillionaire parents' high expectations, and the security of being part of New York City's elite. But when her grandmother dies, leaving her a run-down coffee shop and a creaky old house in the Outer Banks, Leila's life gets ripped out from under her. Her parents drop her off to handle it all alone, leaving her stranded in a town that's quiet on the surface but roiling with secrets underneath.
Then there's Rafe Cameron-nineteen, haunted, and with danger written all over him. The son of one of the town's wealthiest families, he's all raw energy and jagged edges, with a dark past that only seems to make him even more untouchable. Rafe is everything Leila's parents would hate: reckless, fierce, and maddeningly irresistible. Their first encounter is electric, charged with tension she can't deny-and every time she runs into him, the pull between them only grows more intense, more addictive.
But Rafe's world is dark and turbulent, and Leila quickly realizes that falling for him means stepping into a storm she might not survive. As their forbidden connection unfolds in secret glances, midnight meetings, and dangerous encounters, Leila is forced to confront her own fears-and her desires-in a way she never has before.
"You're different from what I expected," she said softly.
"How so?" he asked, glancing at her.
"I don't know," she replied, searching for the right words. "You just... have this way of making people feel like they matter. Even here, in this... nightmare."
He was quiet for a moment before responding. "You matter, Y/n. Don't forget that."
OR
Y/n wakes up in the deadly Squid Game, surrounded by strangers and fighting to survive. What she doesn't know is that the mysterious Frontman is watching her every move through the cameras- and she's caught his attention.