Starving for love

Zoe Adam was a master at pretending. At eighteen, she'd perfected the art of silence, smiling when expected, nodding at the right moments, keeping her secrets tucked away in her heart. It was safer that way. With three siblings, a chaotic dysfunctional Latin household, and parents who wore kindness like a mask, Zoe learned early that love could sting just as easily as it could soothe. Her mother could call her mi vida in one breath, then leave bruises seen and unseen in the next. Her father? He floated in and out, too wrapped in his own storms to notice the ones he left behind.
None knew anything. her sisters who witnessed everything but didn't say anything, had their own shields. Not her brother, who tried to be the hero but never saw what needed saving. Zoe kept everything locked inside her feelings, her loneliness, her hunger, her ache, her need until even she forgot what it felt like to be full.

Then came Hayden Reid.
Nineteen, half-Italian and Puerto Rican, . He moved to London that summer, taking the flat right next door. To most, he was just the new guy with the sharp jaw, quiet hazel eyes, and that permanent don't-get-too-close look. But to Zoe, he was more than that. He was her brother's best friend. The boy who used to tease her when they were kids visiting Italy. The one who disappeared after his parents split and reappeared years later with more muscle, and a haunted look she couldn't stop staring at.

Hayden had his own shadows. His past was littered with broken things promises, people, places he no longer called home. Coming back to London was supposed to be a reset, not a reunion. But fate had other plans for him.
Now, he lives just a few steps from Zoe's window. Too close to ignore, too far to touch. And despite the years, the distance, and the damage they see each other in a way no one else does.
Two hearts with locked doors.
Two people who never meant to collide again.