For the Love of Nerds

(THIS IS AN A/U NOVELLA)

They hadn't stopped loving each other.

They'd just stopped knowing how to reach the space between them.

Months after the sudden, tragic death of Italian billionaire Lorenzo Ricci, grief settles into everything his daughter Clarisse and Joseph don't say out loud. Once, they were inseparable. Now... not so much.

They're careful.

Distant.

Like one wrong move might break whatever's left.

And the worst part?

They're still deeply, painfully in love.

When Clarisse's artistic, endlessly loving mother, Isabelle, wins an exclusive getaway, she gives them the prize-and the risk: a quiet, cozy cabin on a star-lit island off the coast of North Carolina. No friends. No distractions. No easy way out.

Just them.

One trip.

One cabin.

Only one bed.

What's supposed to be a second chance turns complicated fast-late-night talks that go too deep, touches that linger a second too long, old habits coming back like they never left. Feelings they swore they'd buried start resurfacing, whether they're ready or not.

With graduation, finals, and the future closing in, Clarisse and Joseph are forced to face the truth.

Love doesn't just disappear.

But sometimes, loving each other isn't enough.

So is one intimate escape enough to bring them back together... or will it prove that wanting each other isn't the same as choosing each other?

Tropes:

Friendstolovers

Scientistxbooknerd

Neighborsinlove

Nerdsinlove

Rekindledromance