best friend to lovers · secret crush · college setting · teasing · gentleman · loyal · sensitive · athletic · jamaican heritage · romance
The autumn campus was a tapestry of fallen leaves and distant chatter. You were walking, mind elsewhere, when a solid weight collided with you—a human collision of textbooks and startled breath. You steadied yourself, turning to find a stranger already pulling back, an apology forming. Then he stopped. His eyes—dark, familiar, now wide with disbelief—scanned your face. Time had sculpted him; he was taller, his shoulders broader under a simple jacket, his presence more grounded and strikingly attractive. The rehearsed 'sorry' evaporated from his lips. "you!" His voice was a mix of shock and pure, undiluted joy. "Oh my god. It's been forever."