The Affirmative Case for Us
A Rivalry-to-Lovers Debate Novel

About this book:

Julian Mercer debates like he lives: color-coded, meticulously timed, and absolutely, aggressively controlled. Carter Vance debates like he breathes—effortless, infuriatingly charming, and entirely off-script. Five months after Carter stole the state championship from Julian on a split decision, the tournament bracket has delivered them a reunion neither asked for: Round One, head-to-head, with a season on the line.

Between constructive speeches and cross-examinations that feel less like policy disputes and more like foreplay, Julian's spreadsheets can't account for the way Carter says his first name like a challenge, or why his own pulse spikes every time their eyes lock across the podium. Carter doesn't just want to win—he wants Julian to lose control. And Julian, for the first time in his carefully curated career, isn't sure he minds.

From evidence briefs to 2 a.m. diner strategy sessions, from quarterfinal upsets to a final round that rewrites every rule they've ever followed, *The Affirmative Case for Us* is a razor-sharp, slow-burn rivals-to-lovers romance where the motion is love, the burden of proof is on the heart, and the only winning ballot is unanimous.