For two years, Kiara Wells has been watching Evren Garrison from a distance. Brilliant, elusive, and completely out of reach, he's the kind of person who makes a room go quiet just by walking in. She has told herself it's just a crush. She has almost convinced herself she's over it.

Then a coding crisis throws them into the same orbit, and Evren does something she didn't expect: he pays attention.

He wasn't supposed to notice her. She wasn't supposed to let him in. But when late-night debugging sessions turn into something neither of them planned, pretending she's over him stops being an option.

Evren has one rule: no distractions. He's kept it for years — ever since a failed long-distance relationship taught him exactly what attachment costs. Then Kiara walks into his life, sharp and relentless and completely unaware of what she's doing to him — and the rule stops making sense.

The smartest thing he could do is walk away.

Except he's graduating in months. New York is waiting. And the distance that should make leaving easier is the same thing threatening to take her from him before he ever really had her.

He's never been good at doing the smart thing. Not when it comes to her.