Too Hostile by Nicole Dykes

Fletcher
I’m a total nerd, but I look like a jock. I had a perfect GPA in high school, and my GPA in college is perfect too. I smile when I’m supposed to smile. I have two loving parents and a brother and sister who are always by my side. I’m the perfect all-American guy.
But the only thing that actually defines me is the before. The things I keep hidden deep inside because I’m too afraid of losing what I have now.
The past lives deep inside me as I force the plastic smile on my face. And no one sees through it because I’m just that good.
No one except . . . him.

Ronan
Every day is like a dream. A dream I live, not knowing when I’ll wake and find I’m still living in a nightmare.
I never made it out, and these past few years have all been fake.
Then he walks into my classroom . . . with that cocky smile in place. Not a care in the world. I doubt he’s ever had to worry about a thing in his entire life.
He’s exactly like all of the entitled, spoiled brats I teach every day in my part of the college campus, but something about Fletcher Moore really rubs me the wrong way.
I shouldn’t let him get to me, but something about him makes me too angry. Too annoyed.
Just too damn . . . hostile.