Maya was at the library at St. Valery's ,vaulted ceilings and stained glass windows that turned the afternoon sun into pools of red and blue light on the floor.
It was also the only place on campus where Maya could breathe.
She was sitting at a corner table in the stacks, hidden behind a fortress of Biology textbooks. The silence was heavy, broken only by the scratch of her pen and the distant hum of the ventilation system. She preferred the stacks to the main reading room. In the main room, people watched you. Here, she was just another shadow among the shelves.
A paper cup slid across the table, bumping against her elbow.
Maya didn't jump. She finished the sentence she was highlighting before looking up.
Kai Alcott was leaning against the bookshelf, arms crossed over his chest. He was wearing a cream cable-knit sweater that probably cost more than her entire semester's textbook budget, and he was smiling. It was the smile that was currently plastered on billboards downtown for his father's charitable foundation.
"Black coffee," Kai said, nodding at the cup. "Two sugars. No milk. Because you're sweet enough, but bitter about it."
Maya capped her highlighter. "That was a terrible line, Kai."
"I'm practicing," he said, pulling out the chair opposite her. He spun it around and straddled it, resting his chin on the backrest. "How's the studying? You've been in here for three hours. I timed it."
"Stalking isn't charming," Maya said, though she reached for the coffee. She needed the caffeine. The encounter with the Senator at lunch yesterday had left her drained, and she hadn't slept well.
"It's not stalking if I'm concerned for your health." Kai's eyes crinkled at the corners. "You missed our Econ lecture. Professor Halloway asked where his 'brightest student' was. I was offended, naturally."
"I had... errands," Maya said vaguely. She took a sip. It was perfect. Hot, sweet, strong. She hated that he remembered exactly how she took it.
"Errands," Kai repeated. He reached out, his finger tracing the spine of her textbook. "Does that have anything to do with why Elara thinks you're mad at her?"
Maya choked on the coffee. She set the cup down hard. "Elara thinks I'm mad at *her*?"
"She mentioned you were 'frosty' at the club," Kai said, his tone casual, but his eyes watching her closely. "She thinks you don't like her coat."
"I held her coat, Kai. I didn't burn it." Maya rubbed her temples. This was the game. The endless, exhausting game of high society politeness. Elara Vance didn't care if Maya was mad. She just wanted to make sure Kai knew that she had noticed Maya's attitude. It was a power move disguised as concern.
"I know," Kai said softly. The humor dropped from his face. "She's... intense lately. The merger talks are ramping up. Our parents are breathing down our necks about setting a date for the engagement party."
Maya looked at him. Really looked at him. Under the perfect hair and the expensive sweater, he looked tired. There was a tightness around his eyes that mirrored her own.
"So set a date," Maya said flatly. She opened her book again, staring at the diagram of a cell without seeing it. "That's what you're going to do eventually anyway. Why drag it out?"
Kai went quiet. His hand moved from the book to her wrist. His fingers were warm. He didn't grip her; he just rested his hand there, his thumb brushing against her pulse point.
"Because I don't want to," he whispered.
The library air suddenly felt very thin.
Maya stopped breathing. She stared at his hand on her wrist. It was a dangerous touch. If anyone walked by—if Elara walked by—this would be a scandal. The Alcott Heir and the Charity Case.
"Kai," she warned, low.
"Don't," he interrupted. "Don't give me the speech about 'different worlds,' Maya. I got enough of that from my mother at breakfast."
"It's not a speech. It's a fact." Maya pulled her hand away, tucking it into her lap. "You're an Alcott. You have a role to play. I'm just trying to get a degree so I don't have to live in a guest house for the rest of my life."
"You could live in my house," Kai said. He said it like a joke, but he wasn't laughing. "I have plenty of guest rooms. Or... other rooms."
"Stop." Maya glared at him. "Do not flirt with me, Kai. Not when you're going to go home and have dinner with Elara and talk about flower arrangements for your wedding."
Kai flinched. He looked away, running a hand through his hair. "I'm not talking about flowers. I'm stalling. I'm trying to find a way out."
"There is no way out," Maya said. "Not for people like you. You're too comfortable in the cage."
It was harsh, but it was true. Kai had never had to fight for anything in his life. He wouldn't start now. He would complain, he would drag his feet, but in the end, he would sign the papers his father put in front of him.
Kai stood up. The playful energy was gone, replaced by a sullen frustration.
"You think I'm weak," he stated.
"I think you're safe," Maya corrected. "And safety is expensive."
Kai looked down at her. For a second, he looked like he wanted to argue. He looked like he wanted to grab her and kiss her right there in the aisle, consequences be damned.
But then his phone buzzed in his pocket.
He pulled it out. Glanced at the screen. His shoulders slumped.
"Mother," he muttered.
"Go," Maya said, picking up her highlighter. "Don't keep the merger waiting."
Kai shoved the phone back in his pocket. He looked at her one last time, his expression open and raw. "I bought you a ticket to the Gala. It's at the box office under your name. Come. Please."
"Kai—"
"Just come," he pleaded. "If I have to stand there and smile for four hours, I at least want to see one real face in the crowd."
He turned and walked away before she could say no.
Maya watched him go. She watched the way he walked—shoulders hunched, head down—like the weight of the library ceiling was pressing down on him.
She looked at the coffee he'd brought her.
She should throw it out. She should refuse the ticket. She should block his number and focus on Biology and her mother and the terrifying, silent war growing in the Sterling house.
But she took a sip of the coffee instead.
It was sweet.
Maya sighed, opening her book again. She knew she was going to go to the Gala. And she knew it was going to hurt.
"Idiot," she whispered to herself.