Ava tried to keep herself busy.
Lecture notes, assignments, group discussions… anything to keep her mind off him.
It didn't work.
Nicholas Wolfe was everywhere. Not physically, not always, but in her thoughts, in the way her heart lurched when someone brushed past her, in the way she could feel eyes on her even when she wasn't looking.
Even Liam, who was kind and patient and steady, couldn't pull her attention completely. She was polite, yes. She smiled, nodded, sometimes laughed at his jokes. But every polite interaction was underlined with a thought she couldn't shake: Nicholas.
The first time she saw him that morning, he had been leaning against the library doorway, casual, almost bored—but his gaze found her like a magnet. And though he didn't move toward her, he didn't look away either.
By noon, she realized she was following him with her eyes more than her own notes.
Lila Carter noticed. "You're staring again," she whispered as they walked between classes. "Stop acting like a lovesick teenager."
Ava groaned. "I'm not—"
"Sure," Lila interrupted. "Your face says otherwise. Come on, stop pretending you're normal."
Ava didn't answer. She didn't want to admit it, even to Lila. Nicholas had a hold over her she didn't understand and couldn't control.
Later, after classes, Ava was sitting under a tree in the courtyard, books spread across her lap. She told herself she was studying, but really she was stealing glances at the main walkway.
Then she saw him.
Nicholas was walking toward the science building, but halfway there, he stopped. Head tilted, brow slightly furrowed. He noticed her. And she knew. Knew he had seen her watching him.
Her pulse spiked.
Before she could think, he changed direction and moved toward her. Not hurriedly, not like he was chasing her. But with that calm, dangerous precision that always made her forget how to breathe.
"Hi," she said softly as he stopped in front of her.
"Hi," he replied, voice low, controlled. But something in it—something unrestrained—made her stomach twist.
For a moment, they just looked at each other. The world around them blurred. Students passed by, talking, laughing, but it didn't matter. All Ava could feel was the quiet hum of his presence and the heat radiating off him.
"You've been avoiding me," she said finally, almost whispering.
Nicholas exhaled sharply, running a hand through his hair. "I—" He stopped. He looked away for a brief moment, like he was holding something back. Then he looked back at her, eyes sharp. "I'm not avoiding you. I'm… trying to figure things out."
Ava's chest tightened. "Figure what out?"
He stepped closer. Too close. Her books fell forgotten onto the grass. His gaze held hers like a magnet, pulling her in, testing her resistance.
"You," he said finally, his voice barely audible. "You're everything I didn't want to admit I needed."
Her heart stopped. She wanted to speak, to ask him what he meant, but her throat was tight. Words failed her.
Nicholas leaned just a little closer. She could feel the warmth of his chest, smell the faint scent of his cologne. Every nerve in her body screamed at her to close the gap.
But he didn't move all the way in. Not yet.
Instead, his hand reached up to brush a strand of hair from her face, lingering longer than necessary. His thumb grazed her cheek softly, and her breath hitched.
"You're mine, Ava," he whispered, almost as if saying it aloud hurt him. "Even when I try not to claim you, even when I try to stay away, it doesn't matter."
Her chest tightened. "Nicholas—"
He cut her off by leaning closer, enough for her lips to almost meet his. The air between them was electric, charged, impossible to ignore.
And then, just when she was about to close the distance, his eyes flicked to the side. Someone was passing by.
He exhaled sharply and stepped back, shaking his head as if trying to dislodge a thought he couldn't stop. "Not here," he muttered, voice rough, frustrated. "Not now."
Ava's lips tingled where they almost touched. Her heart hammered violently. She wanted to argue, to pull him closer, to finally stop pretending. But he wasn't finished.
"You don't understand," he said, his eyes locking on hers again, burning with an intensity that left her trembling. "I can't… not want you. Not even when I try. Not even when I tell myself to stay away."
Her hands were shaking. She stepped closer, almost against him. "Then why?" she whispered. "Why keep this distance?"
Nicholas's jaw tightened. For a moment, his normally controlled features faltered, cracks showing in the armor he always kept around him. "Because," he said slowly, deliberately, "I'm afraid. Afraid of what I'll do if I give in. Afraid of losing myself in you."
Ava's chest ached. She could see the struggle in his eyes, the war between restraint and desire. She knew she wasn't the one holding back. He was.
"I don't care," she whispered, her voice almost breaking. "I just… I just want you here."
Nicholas looked at her, his eyes dark, heated, and raw. For a second, it seemed like he might finally close the distance, finally let go of the control he had held onto for so long.
But then, with a shuddering breath, he stepped back again. "Later," he said, voice low, guttural, full of longing and restraint all at once. "I promise… later."
And with that, he turned and walked away, leaving Ava standing alone in the courtyard, trembling, heart pounding, and more certain than ever that she would follow him anywhere—even if he tried to push her away.
Her fingers brushed her lips where they almost met his. She could still feel the warmth, the pressure, the electricity.
Lila's voice in her head echoed teasingly: "You're lost, Ava. Completely lost."
She didn't deny it.
Because she was.
Completely.