Lou33m
"I came here to swim. Not to fall for someone like him."
"He looked at me like he saw every part I'd spent years trying to hide... and for once, I didn't want to run."
Lila Harper has always relied on herself.
College was supposed to be a fresh start - a place to swim, stay invisible, and rebuild the pieces of a past she never asked for. She has rules: keep your head down, stay out of the spotlight, and never trust a boy who looks like trouble.
Then there's Alexander Rossi.
Confident. Cocky. Athletic.
A track star with a reputation that follows him everywhere and a family name whispered across the city. He moves through the world like he owns it - untouchable, unbothered - and he should've been the kind of guy Lila avoided.
Instead, he sees her.
And when their worlds collide - hers built on survival, his built on expectations - nothing stays simple for long.
Rumors cling to him. Secrets cling to her. And every time Lila tries to pull away, Alex pulls her right back in, with a softness she never expected from a boy like him.
She came to CSU to outrun her past.
He's spent years trying to outrun his future.
But sometimes the things you run from... are the very things you end up falling for.
A slow-burn, emotionally charged romance about healing, pressure, found family, a love that makes you brave, and learning that some wounds only heal when you stop hiding beneath the surface.