Overexposed

I was never supposed to exist like this.
Everyone sees Axel Barrett and thinks they know exactly what they're looking at. Straight A's. Captain of the swim team. The kind of smile that makes teachers trust you and parents wish their kids were you. Perfect. Polished. Predictable.
But perfection is just another word for a cage.
My parents have had my future mapped out since before I could walk. Barrett and Tucker - two powerful families, one perfect arrangement. Maria Tucker is beautiful, smart, and everything a guy like me is supposed to want. Her father Steve Tucker practically owns half the city, and my parents look at his fortune like it's the finish line they've been racing toward my whole life.
The only problem?
I can't stop thinking about her brother.
Gabriel Tucker walks into a room like he owns it without trying. He doesn't perform for anyone. He laughs too loud and says exactly what's on his mind and exists in this unapologetic way that I've never been allowed to. He is everything I secretly am underneath all the layers everyone else built around me.
Maria deserves someone who actually wants to be there. Someone who isn't sneaking glances at her older brother across the dinner table while their fathers shake hands and talk about legacies.
I am Axel Barrett. And my perfectly arranged life is about to fall apart.
I just don't know yet if that's the worst thing that's ever happened to me - or the best.