Ronan Freaking Vale

Liora's POV

A year had passed in a blur of waiting tables, scrubbing floors at the local diner, and stacking shelves at the corner store until my hands cracked and my back screamed. Anything to scrape together enough for tuition.

Mom had tried…God, she’d tried, picking up extra shifts at the nursing home, but it wasn’t enough. So I hustled. Applied for every scholarship under the sun, begged for extensions on bills, and finally, finally pieced together a fragile path to Blackthorn College. Environmental Science major. It fit…studying ecosystems, conservation, the wild things that lurked just beyond the civilized world. Felt poetic somehow, like I was chasing shadows in the forest.

And Blackthorn? Prestigious enough to change my life, remote enough to feel like an escape.

I zipped my duffel bag shut, the zipper catching on a frayed edge like it didn’t want me to go. Mom stood in the doorway of our tiny apartment, arms crossed over her faded floral dress, eyes misty but proud.

“You sure you got everything, baby?” she asked, voice thick.

I nodded, slinging the bag over my shoulder. “Yeah. Books, clothes, that ratty blanket you hate.”

She laughed, pulling me into a hug that smelled like lavender soap and home. “Call me every day. And eat something besides ramen.”

“Promise.” I squeezed her back, fighting the lump in my throat. “Love you, Mom.”

“Love you more. Go conquer the world.”

I texted Lisa as I headed down the creaky stairs: You here yet?

Her reply buzzed immediately: Pulling up now, bitch. Get your ass out here.

Her beat-up Honda idled at the curb, bass thumping from the speakers. She leaned out the window, sunglasses perched on her nose, grinning like we were kids sneaking out again.

“College bound, LiLi! Hop in before your mom changes her mind.”

I tossed my bag in the back and slid into the passenger seat. The car smelled like vanilla air freshener and fast food wrappers. As we peeled away from the curb, Port Harcourt fading in the rearview, a weight lifted off my chest. Freedom. A fresh start.

We chattered about everything and nothing…her new tattoo (a tiny bee on her ankle because “queen bee, duh”), the drama with Tyler (they’d broken up, gotten back together, broken up again), the dorm room hacks she’d pinned on P*******t. The highway stretched out, trees blurring into green streaks, and for a while, it felt normal. Easy.

Then Lisa glanced at me, smirk creeping up. “So… you still hunting for that mystery man who fucked your brains out after popping your cherry?”

I choked on my water, cheeks igniting. “Lisa! Shut up.”

She cackled, slapping the steering wheel. “Come on, it’s been a year. You gonna admit you’re obsessed? Or are we pretending that night didn’t turn you into a total Ronan-stalker?”

I stared out the window, heart twisting. “I’m not obsessed. And I’m not looking for him.”

Absolute lie. That night haunted me like a ghost I couldn’t exorcise. I’d replayed it in the dark, alone in my bed, fingers slipping between my legs as I chased the memory of his touch…the way his hands gripped my thighs, his mouth devouring me, his cock stretching me until I shattered. I’d come hard, whispering his name, but it was never enough. Never him.

Worse, I’d tried to purge him. Hooked up with a guy from the diner, awkward, fumbling sex in the back of his truck that left me feeling empty and dirty. Then another, a bar pickup who talked too much and finished too fast. Nothing healed the damage. Nothing filled the void he’d carved into me. He’d marked me that night, branded my skin and soul with his intensity. I couldn’t shake it.

And the mystery? It ate at me. I’d gone back to school records, straight-A student perk, teachers loved me enough to let me poke around the office.

“Ronan Vale?” The guidance counselor had frowned, flipping through files. “No record of anyone by that name. You sure, Liora?”

But I was sure. I’d seen him. At hockey practice, leaning against the rink fence, laughing with a group of guys who looked just as rough around the edges. He’d had friends. A presence. People whispered about him, the expulsion, the fights, the rumors that made girls swoon and guys steer clear. So how? How did he vanish from existence? No yearbook photo. No transcripts. No one remembered.

If it weren’t for the bruises that had faded weeks later, the soreness that lingered like a secret, I’d think I was delusional. A hallucination born of tequila and desperation. But he was real. He had to be. Somewhere out there, Ronan Vale existed. And I couldn’t let him go.

Lisa’s voice snapped me back. “Earth to Li. You okay?”

“Yeah. Just… nervous about classes.”

She squeezed my knee. “You’ll crush it. Always do.”

Blackthorn College loomed like something out of a gothic novel—ivy-choked stone buildings, misty lawns, towers piercing the overcast sky. We unloaded my stuff into the dorm, a cramped double with peeling posters from the last occupant. Lisa helped me make the bed, then hugged me tight.

“Text me everything. And find a hot TA to obsess over instead of ghost boy.”

I rolled my eyes. “Get out of here.”

She left with a wave, and I was alone. Classes started the next day, intro to ecology, stats, bio lab. I threw myself in, notebook filled with furious scribbles, group projects where I carried the weight. Things went well. Surprisingly well.

The scholarship held, as long as my GPA stayed pristine. I picked up a campus job at the library, shelving books in the quiet stacks, the hush a balm after the chaos of home.

A week in, I felt like I might actually belong.

Then, in Advanced Ecosystems seminar…a core class for my major—the door swung open mid-lecture. Professor Hale paused, mid-sentence about wolf pack dynamics in fragmented habitats.

“Ah, perfect timing. Class, I’d like to introduce our student lead for the semester’s special project. He’s a senior with exceptional insight into… well, the wilder side of environmental interactions.”

My pen froze.

He stepped in.

Ronan freaking Vale.