His Shield, Her Secret Empire

Holly Erickson POV:

They called me K.B. Barry, a reclusive genius. They didn't know I was just Holly, a girl who wanted someone to see her, not the millions of words she'd written. The fame was a cage, gilded and shimmering, but a cage nonetheless. Every award, every bestseller, every interview request-they were all bars keeping me from a life I desperately craved. A normal life. A real connection.

I vanished. Not literally, of course, but I faded into the background. I traded private jets for public buses, designer clothes for oversized sweaters, and the constant glare of the spotlight for the anonymity of a bustling university campus. My disguise was simple: thick-rimmed glasses that hid my eyes, hair pulled back tight, and clothes that swallowed my figure. I looked studious, unremarkable. Invisible. And it was exactly what I wanted.

For weeks, I floated through campus life, a ghost in the machine. No one knew I was the acclaimed K.B. Barry, the literary sensation. No one spared me a second glance. It was glorious. I reveled in the quiet, the freedom to just be. I could sit in the library for hours, observing, learning, without a single person interrupting me to ask about symbolism or plot twists. It felt like breathing again.

Then came the incident at the student union. It was a Friday night social, loud and chaotic, the kind of place I usually avoided. But a friend, a genuine one I'd made in my statistics class, had dragged me along. I was nursing a lukewarm soda, trying to look absorbed in my phone, when the shouting started. A group of guys, all broad shoulders and sneering faces, had cornered a smaller, timid student. They were laughing, pushing him around, demanding his wallet. My stomach coiled. Old instincts, instincts I'd buried deep under layers of self-preservation, began to stir.

"Leave him alone!" I heard myself say, the words thin and reedy, completely unlike the sharp, confident voice I used in my head.

All eyes turned to me. The leader, a hulking figure with a shaved head and a cruel smile, sauntered over. "Well, well, what have we here? Little Miss Librarian playing hero?" He loomed over me, his breath reeking of cheap beer. "You got a problem with us, four-eyes?"

My heart hammered against my ribs. I knew exactly what to say to dismantle him, to expose his insecurities, to make him back down. I could shred him with words. I could even physically defend myself, years of unexpected self-defense training from my 'celebrity' life flashing through my mind. But if I did, it would draw attention. It would unravel everything. My disguise, my precious anonymity-it would all be gone. I stood frozen, caught between my moral compass and my desperate need for a normal life.

Just as the bully's hand reached out, presumably to shove me, a new scent cut through the stale air of the union hall. It was sharp, sophisticated, like sandalwood and something subtly metallic. My head snapped up, my eyes searching.

He emerged from the crowd, a phantom of cool confidence. Kade Livingston. The campus "king." Son of Senator Livingston, heir to a political dynasty, and effortlessly, breathtakingly handsome. His dark hair fell perfectly, his tailored shirt seemed out of place in the casual setting, and his eyes, a startling shade of green, held a casual disdain for everything around him. He moved with an innate grace, a predator gliding through its domain.

My breath hitched. His presence was a palpable force, silencing the room even before he spoke. The bully, who had been seconds from laying hands on me, froze mid-air, his swagger evaporating. Kade didn't look at me, not really. His gaze swept over the scene like a bored monarch.

"Is there an issue here, Blake?" Kade's voice was low, smooth, laced with an authority that left no room for argument. He didn't raise his voice, but the words cut through the remaining buzz in the room like glass.

Blake, the bully, visibly swallowed. "No, Kade. Just... a little misunderstanding." He gestured vaguely at me, then at the cowering student.

Kade finally turned his eyes to me. They were intense, analytical, and for a fleeting second, I felt utterly exposed. He saw more than the glasses and oversized clothes. He saw me. Or at least, he saw something. A flicker of curiosity, perhaps?

"Are you alright?" he asked, his voice directed at me now, a strange intimacy in the public setting.

I nodded, my throat suddenly dry. "Yes. Thank you." My voice sounded even weaker than before.

He quirked an eyebrow, a tiny, almost imperceptible movement that nonetheless sent a shiver down my spine. "You seem... quiet," he murmured, his gaze lingering on my face for a moment longer than necessary. "What's your name?"

"Holly," I managed, sounding like a mouse.

He offered a faint, almost imperceptible smile. "Holly. Right." He then turned back to Blake, his expression hardening. "Blake, take your Neanderthals and make yourselves scarce. Now."

Blake, clearly terrified, didn't need to be told twice. He rounded up his crew, muttering apologies and promises to behave, and vanished into the night. It was that simple. Kade hadn't even broken a sweat. His power was absolute.

Later, I learned more about Kade Livingston. Everyone on campus knew. He was the golden boy, the unreachable star. His father was the sitting senator, his mother a renowned philanthropist. Their name opened every door, closed every argument. Kade himself was notoriously brilliant, cruising through his high-level political science classes with an almost arrogant ease. He didn't need to be here, not really. He was cultivating an image, perhaps, or simply biding his time before stepping into his preordained role in the world. He treated the university like his personal playground, attending classes when he felt like it, commanding loyalty and adoration from almost everyone. And oh, the adoration. Girls flocked to him like moths to a flame, their eyes wide with longing. He rarely acknowledged them, a king too busy for his subjects.

But for some reason, he had looked at me.

That night, alone in my dorm room, I kept replaying his green eyes, the faint smile, the way he'd said my name. A ridiculous, unfamiliar warmth bloomed in my chest. I, Holly Erickson, the invisible K.B. Barry, was falling for Kade Livingston. It was absurd, destined for heartbreak, a complete deviation from my carefully constructed plan.

But I couldn't stop it.

I started small. Leaving a coffee on his desk in the library, a discreet note attached with a quote from a book I knew he'd studied. Anonymously submitting a study guide for a class we both shared, knowing he'd appreciate the meticulous detail. I saw him pick up the coffee once, glance at the note, a flicker of something in his eyes-amusement? Curiosity?-before he took a sip. My heart soared.

One rainy afternoon, I found a half-eaten apple and a forgotten textbook on a bench outside the philosophy building. I bought a small, intricately carved wooden apple, a delicate thing I'd found in a campus boutique, and left it on his usual library table, next to his abandoned book, along with a new apple. A silly, sentimental gesture. I watched from a distance as he found it. He picked up the wooden apple, turned it over in his fingers, a thoughtful expression on his face. Then he looked around, searching. My breath hitched. He was looking for me. I ducked behind a stack of shelves, my heart pounding like a drum.

I wished with every fiber of my being that he would see me, truly see me. Not the plain girl, not the famous author, just Holly. The one who brought him coffee, who noticed the small details, who harbored this embarrassing, overwhelming crush.

My next attempt was a handmade bookmark, crafted from a pressed flower I'd found on campus, slipped into a new copy of a classic novel he'd mentioned wanting to read. It was foolish, childish, and entirely unlike the calculated, reserved person I usually was. I was risking everything for a connection, for a chance.

I was in the middle of meticulously wrapping this small book, the bookmark tucked inside, when the door to my dorm room burst open. My roommate, Sarah, and her friend, Chloe, stood there, giggling.

"Holly! What are you doing?" Sarah shrieked, pointing at the carefully wrapped book. "Is that... a gift? For Kade Livingston?"

My face flamed. "No! It's, uh, for my grandmother," I stammered, clutching the package to my chest.

Chloe, always more direct, strode over. "Don't lie, Holly. We saw you practically stalking him with those coffees. And the study guides? Come on. Everyone knows your little crush." She snatched the package from my hands, her eyes widening as she saw the elegant wrapping. "Wow, you really went all out for this one, huh? What is it? A love letter written in blood?"

"Give it back!" I lunged for it, but she held it out of reach.

Sarah giggled. "You know Kade doesn't go for the quiet, bookish types, Holly. He likes... sparkle. Like me!" She preened. "Or at least, he likes girls who aren't afraid to put themselves out there."

Chloe unwrapped the book, pulling out the bookmark. "A pressed flower? Really? Holly, that's sweet, but Kade probably gets professionally curated gift baskets delivered daily." She sighed dramatically. "He told me once he likes girls who are unpredictable. Who challenge him."

My cheeks burned. I wanted to disappear. This was exactly what I had feared: exposure, ridicule, all for a silly crush.

Then, a voice. Deep, amused, right behind Chloe. "Unpredictable, you say?"

My blood ran cold. Kade.

He stood in my doorway, leaning against the frame, his green eyes glinting with a familiar, unsettling amusement. How long had he been there? Had he heard everything?

Chloe shrieked, dropping the book. "K-Kade! Oh my god, I didn't see you there!" Her face was bright red.

He ignored her, stepping past his fawning friends, his gaze fixed on me. He picked up the book, the pressed flower bookmark falling onto the floor. He picked that up too, examining it between his fingers.

"A novel? And a flower?" He looked at me, a hint of something unreadable in his eyes. "You're full of surprises, Holly Erickson."

My heart pounded so hard I thought it would burst. Shame, embarrassment, and a terrifying sliver of hope all warred within me. I wanted to run, to hide, to scream. But I couldn't move.

He tossed the book back onto my bed. Then, with a casual flick of his wrist, he tucked the tiny pressed flower carefully into the pocket of his tailored blazer. "Keep them coming, Holly," he murmured, his voice a low thrum that vibrated through my bones. He gave me that small, almost-smile again, the one that made my stomach flip, before turning and leaving, his friends scrambling to catch up.

I stood there, rooted to the spot, holding my breath. He took it. He took the flower. A fragile, foolish hope bloomed in my chest. He noticed me. He accepted something from me. Maybe, just maybe, this wouldn't end in heartbreak. Maybe he saw something in plain, unremarkable Holly. Maybe he saw me.

My heart raced, a frantic bird trapped in my ribs. Could this be it? Could I, Holly Erickson, the secretly world-famous K.B. Barry, finally find the genuine connection I craved, even with the university's unreachable king? The thought was terrifying and exhilarating all at once.