The library's silence had a weight to it, a sacred hush that Sienna usually found comforting. Tonight, it felt like a spotlight. She'd staked out a table in the deepest, most secluded corner of the third floor, hoping to minimize the Jace Rivera Effect. It was a naive hope.
He arrived five minutes late, smelling faintly of cold air and expensive cologne, and dropped into the chair opposite her with a grin. "Hey, partner. Miss me?"
"The silence was blissful," she said, not looking up from her laptop. "Let's just focus. I've outlined the key sociological theories we can apply."
For the first twenty minutes, it was surprisingly… productive. Jace, it turned out, wasn't the academic slouch she'd assumed. He asked sharp questions, his basketball-focused mind latching onto the concept of team hierarchies with aninsider's understanding.
"So, if the point guard is the 'king,'" he mused, tapping his pen, "does that make the coach the… god?"
"More like the ruling class enforcing the means of production," Sienna corrected, typing notes. "But sure. Let's go with god."
He smirked. "I like my analogy better."
The peace was shattered by a low, gurgling rumble. Sienna froze. It was her stomach. Loudly.
Jace's eyes lifted from his notes, gleaming with mischief. "Someone's hungry."
"I'm fine."
"You're a terrible liar. Your stomach just screamed for help." He reached into his backpack and pulled out a family-sized bag of chips, the crinkling sound explosively loud in the quiet. "Fuel?""We can't eat in here!" she hissed, glancing around nervously.
"Relax, it's a library, not a museum." He tore the bag open with a deafening rip. The crunch when he took a handful sounded like a tree falling.
"Shhh!" someone hissed from a nearby carrel.
Jace leaned forward, lowering his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "You want one or not? They're the spicy kind."
Her traitorous stomach growled again, louder this time. Defeated, she snatched a chip from the bag. It was, annoyingly, delicious.
This was how the chaos began.
Two minutes later, reaching for a highlighter, Sienna's elbow knocked over her half-full water bottle. It tipped in slow motion, a tidal wave heading straight for Jace's open notebook.He moved with the reflexes that made him a star on the court, snatching the notebook away just as the water pooled where it had been.
"You really do have a thing for liquids, don't you, Hazard?" he whispered, a laugh in his voice.
"It was an accident!"
Their hushed, frantic wiping of the table with a wad of paper towels drew the stern attention of a library monitor, who glowered at them from the end of the aisle.
They fell into a guilty silence, shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter. It was the kind of stupid, shared moment she'd have with Tasha, not with him. It felt dangerously normal.
Once the coast was clear, they tried to refocus. Jace was explaining the unspoken rules of the team bus when he suddenly stopped, his eyes fixed on her face.He moved with the reflexes that made him a star on the court, snatching the notebook away just as the water pooled where it had been.
"You really do have a thing for liquids, don't you, Hazard?" he whispered, a laugh in his voice.
"It was an accident!"
Their hushed, frantic wiping of the table with a wad of paper towels drew the stern attention of a library monitor, who glowered at them from the end of the aisle.
They fell into a guilty silence, shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter. It was the kind of stupid, shared moment she'd have with Tasha, not with him. It felt dangerously normal.
Once the coast was clear, they tried to refocus. Jace was explaining the unspoken rules of the team bus when he suddenly stopped, his eyes fixed on her face.
He moved with the reflexes that made him a star on the court, snatching the notebook away just as the water pooled where it had been.
"You really do have a thing for liquids, don't you, Hazard?" he whispered, a laugh in his voice.
"It was an accident!"
Their hushed, frantic wiping of the table with a wad of paper towels drew the stern attention of a library monitor, who glowered at them from the end of the aisle.
They fell into a guilty silence, shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter. It was the kind of stupid, shared moment she'd have with Tasha, not with him. It felt dangerously normal.
Once the coast was clear, they tried to refocus. Jace was explaining the unspoken rules of the team bus when he suddenly stopped, his eyes fixed on her face."What?" she asked, self-consciously wiping her mouth. "Do I have chip dust on my face?"
"No," he said, his voice softer. "You have a dimple."
Sienna blinked. "What?"
"Right there." He pointed a pen near the corner of his own mouth. "When you really smile. You have a dimple. How have I never noticed that before?"
The observation was so simple, so unexpectedly observant, that it stole the air from her lungs. He wasn't just looking at her; he was seeing her. Not as the angry neighbor or the clumsy project partner, but as a person with a dimple.
Her face grew warm. She quickly schooled her features back into a neutral mask. "Can we please get back to social stratification?"
He held her gaze for a moment longer, that curious, soft look still in his eyes, before nodding slowly. "Right. Stratification."They worked for another half-hour, the air between them charged with a new, unspoken tension. It was no longer just about the project. It was about the dimple. The shared, stifled laughter. The way he'd noticed something so small.
Packing up to leave, he slung his backpack over one shoulder. "So, my place tomorrow? My couch is definitely more spill-proof than this table."
She should have said no. The library was safe, public, neutral ground. His apartment was his territory. But the memory of his quiet "How have I never noticed that before?" echoed in her mind.
"Fine," she heard herself say. "But no jump rope. And no loud music."
"Scout's honor." He grinned, the moment of softness replaced by his usual confidence. "I'll even have snacks that don't violate library code."
They walked out of the stacks together. As they passed the main desk, the librarian who hadshushed them earlier gave a small, knowing smile. Sienna's face flamed again.
Outside, the cool night air was a shock.
"See you tomorrow, Cole," Jace said, his breath making a small cloud in the air.
"Tomorrow," she echoed.
She watched him walk away toward the athlete's village, his stride easy and confident. Pulling out her phone, she saw a text from Tasha.
Tasha: How was the study date? Learn anything besides his jawline?
Sienna typed her reply, her fingers cold but her face still warm.
Sienna: He noticed my dimple.
The three bouncing dots appeared instantly, followed by a string of explosion and heart-eye emojis.Tasha: HE WHAT??? THAT'S NOT STUDYING. THAT'S ADVANCED ROMANTIC RECONNAISSANCE.
Sienna didn't answer. She just stood there, the ghost of a real, unguarded smile touching her lips. And for the first time, she didn't try to force it away.
She was still smiling when she pushed open the main door to their apartment building fifteen minutes later, a small paper bag from the 24-hour convenience store in hand. She'd made a detour for more of those spicy chips, a fact she'd never admit to him.
And froze.
Jace was there, leaning against the mailboxes, scrolling on his phone as if he'd been waiting.
"You," she said, the smile instantly vanishing from her face, replaced by a flutter of panic. "What are you doing down here?"He looked up, a slow, knowing grin spreading across his face. He'd clearly been there a while.
"Forgot my key," he said, holding up his empty hands. "Mason's not back yet." His eyes dropped to the branded paper bag in her hand. His grin widened. "No way. Are those my chips?"
She hid the bag behind her back. "No."
"You're a terrible liar, Cole." He pushed off the wall, his eyes sparkling. "I'm touched."
"Don't be. It's a public service. To minimize future library violations."
"Right. Public service." He took a step closer, his voice dropping. "So, just to be clear for tomorrow… you're not allergic to cats, are you? My roommate's girlfriend's demon-cat might be there."
The question was so absurd, so specific. He'd been standing there, locked out, and that's what he'd thought to ask her.
"I'm not allergic to cats," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Good." He nodded, his eyes lingering on hers. The lobby felt suddenly very small. "See you tomorrow, Cole."
At that moment, the main door buzzed open and Mason stumbled in, laughing about something on his phone. "Hey, man, you locked out again?"
Jace broke their gaze, turning to his friend. "Saved by the bell." He threw a last, unreadable look over his shoulder at Sienna before following Mason up the stairs.
She stood there, clutching the bag of chips. He was chaos. He was unpredictable. He was a human wrecking ball aimed directly at her peaceful life.
And as she walked up the stairs, a new, terrifying thought settled in her stomach, heavy and exciting all at once.
She was starting to like it.