COLEEN

The quiet hum of Hayden’s desk fan filled the room as I scribbled furiously into my notebook, the lamp on the corner casting a soft golden glow across the pages. My knees were pulled up on his bed where I had built a fortress of textbooks, highlighters, and sticky notes.

Hayden, meanwhile, sat at his desk, hunched over his laptop, brows furrowed in concentration as he scrolled through notes for one of his sports management classes.

It was quiet... comfortable. The kind of ...