Love me or Lose me

Two years ago, Zay Niall Earl did the only thing he could to save his own heart: he packed his bags and ghosted his unrequited crush. After twenty-four months of healing abroad, Zay is finally back in his hometown. He is older, wiser, and ready to conquer his freshman year of Veterinary Medicine. He has a beautiful new condo, a chaotic new best friend named Pai, and a rock-solid resolution: leave the past in the past. But the universe has a very twisted sense of humor. On his very first day of university, Zay finds himself dragged to a campus basketball match. Standing on the court, effortlessly sinking three-pointers and looking impossibly handsome, is the one person Zay was trying to avoid: Kai Alexandre Frasier. Kai was the grumpy, untouchable boy who took Zay’s sunshine for granted. Now, he is the campus heartthrob, and fate seems determined to throw them together. When a scheduling fluke forces the two of them into the same high-stakes Veterinary labs, Zay's carefully built walls begin to crumble. To survive the semester, Zay has to treat Kai like a total stranger. He has to ignore the heavy silences, the lingering stares, and the quiet ways Kai tries to take care of him. Because Zay knows the rules: opening his heart means risking the same one-sided pain all over again. But Kai isn't the same boy he was two years ago. And this time, he isn't going to let Zay slip away without a fight. Can Zay protect his heart from the only boy who ever broke it? Or will Kai finally learn how to say the words that could change everything?