Hate by Proxy

She was everything he was looking for without knowing.

Sophie:

Love was the last thing on Sophie's mind, until it wasn't.

After the death of her parents, all she wanted to focus on was bringing her university grades back up. That would have been easy, if she wasn't assigned the person she couldn't stand the most as her mentor: Leo Russell.

An irritating thorn in her side ever since they met at the age of fourteen, but to her surprise there was no hateful mocking this time. Sophie saw a different side to Leo, an understanding one, and couldn't help questioning everything she thought she knew about him.

Leo:

Leo only wanted to return the favour after Sophie Grayson inadvertently helped him heal from his own grief when they first met. Though, the distraction from his parents' divorce was a welcome bonus. There was nothing else to it, no matter what their mutual friends believed. A small part of him hoped she would see him differently, because he wanted to help, but could she let him?

An unexpected kiss is all it takes for both of them to spiral into hesitation and uncertainty, leaving them to wonder if new love would ironically bloom out of a dying marriage, or if death would be too much of a shadow to overcome.