Chapter 1
****PRETEND YOU HATE ME****-The Yael family living room buzzed with familiar weekend chaos—laughter from the kitchen, muted sports commentary on the TV, and the low thrum of the ceiling fan spinning overhead. Adira sat cross-legged on the couch, her oversized hoodie swallowing her petite frame, trying her best to ignore the storm of heat crawling up her neck.
Because *he* was here. Again.
Yaakov Gavriel—Kov to everyone except her—was leaning against the kitchen doorframe, sipping from a soda can like he wasn’t aware of the fire he stoked with just his lazy, sideways grin. Her brother’s best friend. The guy who had been tormenting her with cocky smirks and stupid jokes since she was sixteen.
And the same guy who, two nights ago, had her pinned against her bedroom wall with her thighs wrapped around his waist and her lips around his name.
She was eighteen now. Old enough to know better. Old enough not to care.
She cleared her throat, tried not to look at him.
Kov’s voice cut through the air, louder than necessary. “You still wear that ugly hoodie, huh? You’d think by now you’d upgrade your wardrobe, Adira.”
She didn’t flinch. The game had begun.
“Still here mooching off our fridge like a stray dog? You’d think by now you’d have your own home,” she shot back, tone sweet as sugar, eyes cold as ice.
He smirked.
Her brother laughed somewhere in the kitchen, completely unaware of the slow-burning war happening in the room. Kov pushed off the doorframe and walked past her, slow and deliberate, brushing his fingers against her shoulder like it was an accident.
Her body tensed. Her breath caught.
“Meet me upstairs in five,” he murmured just low enough that only she could hear.
Adira didn’t react. Didn’t blink. Just stared at the TV as her heart started racing. Five minutes. That’s all she had to keep pretending.
Five minutes until her hands found their way back into his hair.
Until her lips found the hollow of his throat.
Until she reminded him exactly who was in charge behind closed doors.
Because outside, she was timid little Adira Yael.
But inside that locked bedroom door, *he* was hers.
