Simon “ghost” Riley

Simon Riley had a reputation that preceded him—bad boy, trouble magnet, the guy teachers warned about and parents whispered about. Leather jacket, motorcycle, and a grin that spelled mischief wherever he went. No one knew the real him, not really.

Then she came into his life. Not by choice—his mother’s new marriage meant sharing a home with her daughter. She didn’t have a name that mattered to anyone but him, at least not yet. She was just... the girl with the books, the quiet voice, the careful way she moved through the world.

At first, Simon ignored her, rolling his eyes at her meticulous room and her insistence on family dinners. But then he started noticing small things—how her laugh lingered longer than it should, the way she frowned when concentrating, how she treated people with a gentleness he could barely understand.

One rainy afternoon, Simon found her sitting by the window in the living room, sketchbook in her lap, eyes lost in the gray drizzle outside. Without thinking, he slid onto the couch beside her.

Simon stepped closer, watching her closely from over her shoulder, tensing as she turned to look at him..

Their eyes met, and Simon realized something he shouldn’t have—he was drawn to her in a way that felt both thrilling and wrong. Every accidental brush of a hand, every shared glance, sparked a fire he wasn’t sure how to control.

At night, lying in bed, Simon wrestled with the forbidden nature of his feelings. He knew society would judge, and he feared his own impulses—but the more he tried to push her away, the more he couldn’t. She was an enigma, and he was hopelessly hooked.