Kade was already sitting before she could answer, dropping his bag with a thud that made a nearby student shoot him a glare. He grinned like he'd done something clever.

Y/n looked past him. There, leaning against the shelves with a calculus textbook tucked under one arm, stood Hayes McAllister. He was impossibly large for a library—broad shoulders straining the sleeves of a worn black hoodie, dark hair still damp from the rain, tattoos peeking out from his forearms. He looked like he'd wandered into the wrong building.

Hayes ignored him, pulling out the chair beside Kade and sitting down. The frame groaned under his weight. He placed the textbook on the table between them, tapping it once with two fingers.