SPARKS AND BOUNDARIES
749 Words
The week that followed at Daniella’s house was… complicated.
And by complicated, I mean I was slowly discovering that living under the same roof with Daniel was like living next to a walking, talking fire hazard — the kind that looked devastatingly good shirtless but could burn your patience to ash in two seconds flat.
It started early Monday morning.
I was halfway down the stairs, hair in a messy bun, hoodie on, ready to grab breakfast before heading to school. Daniella had gone to pick up some files from her dad’s office, so the coast should have been clear.
Or so I thought.
From the kitchen, I could hear low humming — deep, smooth, and annoyingly attractive. I paused mid-step. Daniel. Of course.
He was at the counter, pouring coffee, wearing nothing but gray sweatpants. Gray. Sweatpants.
“Morning, princess,” he said without looking up, the corner of his mouth tugging into that cocky smirk that was quickly becoming my personal trigger.
“I’m not your princess,” I replied flatly, heading straight for the fridge.
“Not yet,” he murmured.
I froze mid-reach.
Not. Yet.
I slammed the fridge shut and turned to face him. “Do you wake up every morning thinking about how to annoy me, or does it just happen naturally?”
“It’s a gift,” he said, leaning casually against the counter, coffee mug in hand. His gaze shamelessly swept over me. “Nice hoodie, by the way. Cute. Did you steal that from Daniella or is it mine?”
“Trust me,” I said, grabbing an apple, “if this were yours, I’d have burned it.”
He chuckled — that deep, infuriating sound that made my pulse skip — and I hated myself for noticing.
---
School: The Warning
By lunchtime, word had already spread that I’d been staying at Daniella’s house. And apparently, boys at school had decided that meant I was suddenly “accessible.”
Which was laughable.
One of the football guys cornered me near my locker. “Hey, heard you’re staying at Daniella’s. Daniel’s sister. That’s… interesting. Maybe we could—”
He didn’t finish, because a shadow fell over us.
Daniel.
Tall. Sharp-eyed. Dangerous in that silent, predatory way.
He stood beside me, one hand braced on the locker, his body angled just enough to block the other guy from me.
“Walk away,” Daniel said.
The guy swallowed. “I was just—”
“Now.”
I expected him to leave it at that, but Daniel’s eyes cut to me. “You should be more careful with who you talk to.”
I raised a brow. “Careful? I can take care of myself, thanks.”
He smirked faintly. “Yeah, I’ve heard about your kung-fu thing. But next time, try not to give a guy a reason to imagine things.”
Heat rushed to my cheeks. “You’re unbelievable.”
He leaned in just enough for his breath to brush my ear. “And yet, you can’t ignore me.”
I pushed past him before my brain could short-circuit.
---
Nighttime Boundaries
That night, I was on Daniella’s bed scrolling through my phone while she was in the shower. I heard a soft knock — too soft to be her usual dramatic entrance.
“Come in,” I called, without thinking.
The door opened… and of course, it was Daniel.
“What do you want?” I asked, not looking up.
“Daniella asked me to tell you dinner’s ready.” He stepped in anyway, leaning against the wall like he owned the place.
“Great. You can leave now.”
Instead, he walked closer, eyes narrowing slightly as if studying me. “You know, for someone who claims not to care about boys, you get flustered easily.”
“I don’t get flustered.”
He stopped right in front of me, close enough for me to see the faint scar on his jaw. “Then prove it.”
I tilted my chin up. “You’re not worth proving anything to.”
He grinned, like my defiance amused him. “Keep telling yourself that.”
And just like that, he turned and walked out, leaving me with a racing heart I refused to acknowledge.
---
But deep down, I knew something was shifting.
I still didn’t like him. He still drove me insane.
Yet somehow… I was starting to look forward to our fights.
And that was dangerous.
- Writer
