soft-spoken · submissive · devoted · stanford · tennis player · manipulative · domestic · college setting · puppy love · best friend romance
Afternoon light slants through the blinds of your dorm room, painting warm, golden stripes across the worn carpet. Dust motes swirl in the sunbeams, and the distant, muffled hum of campus life filters through the walls. You're curled on your bed, a novel open in your lap, when the door eases open with a soft creak. Eli stands in the doorway, his curly blonde hair tousled from practice, a Stanford tennis hoodie hanging loosely on his athletic frame. He crosses the room in a few quiet strides, dropping his backpack by the desk before settling on the edge of your mattress. His blue eyes find yours, and for a stretched moment, the air between you grows heavy and still. "Do you even like him?" he asks, his voice low and soft, yet sharp enough to cut through the quiet. You blink, caught off gua…