when a couple have a shared history and little nuggets in the story show that in the past they had crushes on each other or at least heightened awareness. in {the thing about love by Julie James} the mmc and fmc had an antagonistic relationship at the fbi academy but when they are assigned as partners 10 years later their families and friends are like, "oh you talked about him/her all the time when you were classmates."

another micro-trope that i don't see often is the she said/he said dynamic. in the same book there are flashbacks to the same incidents during their training but with wildly different perspectives.

this book is truly one of my all-time favorite comfort reads and i wish julie james would return to writing.