The next few days passed in a blur of late-night study sessions, heated debates, and moments that left Maya questioning everything she thought she knew about Lucas. She hated to admit it, but working with him had been… different. Better than she expected. He was quick with ideas, and his easy-going nature actually helped balance out her relentless drive for perfection.

Not that she’d ever admit that to him.

They met every afternoon after school, and although the initial tension between them had cooled slightly, the sparks still lingered. The teasing banter, the accidental touches, the stolen glances—it was all becoming too much for Maya to ignore.

Today, they were meeting at Maya’s house. Her parents were both working late, leaving the house quiet and empty. She had already spread out the project materials across the kitchen table when she heard the doorbell ring.

Opening the door, she found Lucas standing there, his usual smirk in place, but there was something softer in his eyes. “Hope you don’t mind me showing up a bit early. Thought we could knock this out faster and have time to actually relax.”

Maya rolled her eyes, stepping aside to let him in. “Relax? I’m not sure you and I have the same definition of that word.”

Lucas chuckled, slipping past her and making his way into the kitchen. “Maybe not. But trust me, you could use some downtime, Thompson.”

They sat down at the table, the atmosphere between them more relaxed than it had been in days. The project was starting to take shape, and Maya had to admit that Lucas’s ideas had been surprisingly good. The interactive element he had suggested was coming together, and the more they worked together, the more she realized that they actually made a pretty good team.

“I have to say,” she began, trying to sound casual, “you’re not half as useless as I thought you’d be.”

Lucas raised an eyebrow, pretending to be offended. “Is that supposed to be a compliment?”

“Take it however you want,” Maya said, unable to stop the small smile from tugging at her lips.

Lucas leaned back in his chair, folding his arms behind his head. “So, you’re finally admitting I’m not the slacker you thought I was?”

Maya opened her mouth to respond, but before she could say anything, a loud clap of thunder shook the house, followed by a sudden downpour of rain. She glanced out the window, frowning.

“Looks like you’re stuck here for a while,” she muttered, watching as the rain pelted the windows. “That storm came out of nowhere.”

Lucas grinned. “Guess we’ll have to find some way to pass the time, huh?”

Maya shot him a look. “Don’t even think about slacking off now. We still have work to do.”

---

Later: A Stormy Night

As the storm raged outside, Maya and Lucas worked quietly, the only sounds the scratching of pens and the occasional roll of thunder. But as the hours passed, Maya found it harder to focus. She couldn’t stop thinking about the way Lucas’s leg brushed against hers under the table or how his voice softened when he spoke to her.

She hated how aware she was of him.

“You’re distracted,” Lucas said suddenly, breaking the silence.

Maya blinked, looking up from her notes. “What? No, I’m not.”

Lucas leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table, his eyes twinkling with amusement. “Come on, Thompson. You think I haven’t noticed? You’ve been staring at the same page for the last ten minutes.”

Maya flushed, quickly flipping to a new page. “I’m just... thinking.”

Lucas’s grin widened. “Thinking about me?”

Maya shot him a glare, but it lacked the usual bite. “In your dreams, Carter.”

Lucas chuckled, but his eyes never left hers. There was a tension in the air, thicker than the storm outside, and Maya couldn’t help but feel it growing between them. She hated how easily he got under her skin, how effortlessly he turned everything into a joke. And yet, there was something about him—something that made her pulse race whenever he was near.

“You know,” Lucas said, his voice softer now, “you’re not as tough as you pretend to be.”

Maya froze, her heart skipping a beat. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Lucas leaned forward, his gaze piercing. “You put up walls. Act like you don’t care what people think. But I see through it. You’re scared.”

Maya’s breath caught in her throat. No one had ever called her out like that before. No one had ever looked past the facade she worked so hard to maintain. And the fact that it was Lucas of all people seeing through her made her blood boil.

“You don’t know anything about me,” she snapped, standing up abruptly.

But Lucas didn’t back down. He stood up too, meeting her eyes with an intensity that made her heart race. “I know more than you think. You act like you have it all together, like you don’t need anyone. But everyone needs someone, Maya.”

Maya’s hands clenched into fists at her sides. She hated how his words hit too close to home, how he saw right through her defences. But what she hated more was the way he made her feel—vulnerable, exposed.

“I don’t need you,” she whispered, her voice shaky.

Lucas stepped closer, his eyes never leaving hers. “Maybe not. But that doesn’t mean you don’t want me.”

Maya’s breath hitched as his words hung in the air between them, charged with a tension that made her pulse quicken. She wanted to deny it, to push him away and pretend that he wasn’t getting under her skin. But the truth was, she didn’t want him to stop.

Before she could say anything, Lucas closed the distance between them, his hand reaching up to brush a strand of hair from her face. The touch was gentle, but it sent a spark through her body, making her heart race.

“Maya,” he murmured, his voice low and rough. “You can keep pretending all you want, but we both know what’s really happening here.”

Maya’s breath caught in her throat, her mind a blur of conflicting thoughts. She should push him away, should tell him to stop. But all she could do was stand there, frozen in place, as his hand lingered on her cheek, his thumb brushing against her skin in a way that made her pulse race.

For a brief moment, the world around them disappeared—the storm, the project, the rivalry. It was just them, standing in the kitchen, the tension between them crackling like the lightning outside.

And then, just as quickly as it had started, Lucas stepped back, breaking the spell. His smirk returned, but there was something softer in his eyes now, something that made Maya’s heart skip a beat.

“See you tomorrow, partner,” he said with a wink, grabbing his bag and heading for the door.

Maya stood there, her heart racing and her mind spinning. She didn’t know what had just happened, but one thing was clear: things between her and Lucas were about to get a whole lot more complicated.