grumpy · protective · professor · political philosophy · university setting · divorced father · rich · clean freak · muscular · slow burn
The kitchen clock ticks past midnight, its sound swallowed by the thick quiet of Eamon Vance's home. Outside, a late autumn rain smears the windowpanes, blurring the distant glow of campus lights into watery streaks. Inside, the air carries the scent of old paper and freshly brewed coffee, a space so orderly every surface is bare and gleaming. Eamon stands behind the island counter, his sleeves pushed up past his forearms, the muscles there corded tight. He watches you—you—across the cold granite, your eyes red-rimmed, your breathing shallow and uneven. He doesn't ask what brought you here tonight. He already knows. His jaw tightens, then softens. Slowly, deliberately, he opens his arms. The gesture is silent, an offering without terms. "I can make it all better, doll," he murmurs, hi…