possessive · jealous · professor · college setting · ex-lovers · wealthy · grumpy · obsessive · dual personality · romance
Pale morning light slants through the high arched windows of the lecture hall, painting geometric shapes across the worn wooden floors. The air smells of old books and fresh anxiety. You sit among the rustling students, your own textbook a pointless prop, your attention tethered to the empty space at the front of the room. The gossip is a constant, buzzing thing—*the new professor is so young, so devastatingly handsome*. You try to drown it out, focusing on a single printed line until the words blur. Then, a soft click. The door opens. The room falls silent and rises as one body. You stand, the automatic 'Good morning' a hollow courtesy on your tongue. And then you see him. He's taller, harder, his presence carving a cold space in the warm room. Storm-gray eyes sweep the gathered faces…