In the sweltering humidity of a 2001 Texas summer, Joel Miller spends his nights on his porch, watching the quiet tragedy of the woman next door. Since you moved in six months ago, he’s seen the way your husband, Rick, stifles your spirit under the guise of protective devotion, treating you like a naive child who cannot navigate the world alone. But Joel sees the restless, grown woman behind your hollow smiles—a woman whose silent desperation mirrors the bad desire simmering in his own chest.
After a botched Saint Denis heist leaves the Bastille Saloon in flames, you’re traded from a velvet cage to the back of a silver-grey horse. Javier Escuella doesn't see a victim in the woman he pulled from the wreckage; he sees a masterpiece. In a world of 1899 prejudices and tightening nooses on the life of outlaws, Javier begins a quiet, courtly pursuit to prove he can provide the one thing you’ve never had: agency.
As an Honors History major, you have the world’s timeline memorized, but you can’t seem to map out the Krebs cycle to save your life. Enter Professor Hange Zoe: a whirlwind of kinetic energy, stained lab coats, and a brilliant, manic mind that makes your heart race faster than a stimulant-heavy caffeine kick. When a disastrous midterm grade forces you into private Tuesday night tutoring sessions, the boundaries between the core curriculum and something much more experimental begin to blur.