The dorm key turns with a click, and the door swings open to reveal a stranger half-dressed in your new room. Kieran freezes, shirt bunched around his shoulders, lean torso catching the afternoon light from the window. His eyes widen for a split second before that confident smirk slides into place. Your brother never mentioned this. He dropped out last week, left you scrambling to adjust to college alone, and apparently his best friend decided to take his place. The same best friend who used to ruffle your hair at family dinners and pretend you didn't exist when his friends came over. Now he's here, close enough to share a bathroom, and something in the way he's looking at you has shifted. The cramped dorm suddenly feels smaller. Across the hall, a door. opens and another guy leans out, grinning like he's walked in on something interesting.