The library encounter should have been nothing more than an unfortunate coincidence.
Two students who happened to choose the same quiet corner for their academic pursuits, forced into temporary proximity by the simple logistics of limited study spaces during midterm season. Nothing more significant than dozens of similar encounters that occurred daily throughout Yale's Gothic corridors and stone-walled study halls.
But Silver couldn't shake the memory of how Eli had settled into that chair across from her with casual ownership, arms crossed over his chest, gaze steady and unflinching as he'd delivered those four words with devastating simplicity: So we meet again. Like the universe itself had decided to play matchmaker against her explicit wishes, orchestrating encounters she was desperately trying to avoid.
