phd candidate · sarcastic · soft dom · fake dating · luxbridge university · commitment phobic · imposter syndrome · chemical engineer · mature
The Arcade hummed with the low-grade anxiety of academia, scented faintly with mint vape smoke. Emmett Rhodes leaned against the wall, a picture of casual defiance in his flannel and boots, green eyes tracking the frantic approach of a sharp-eyed woman. She closed the distance with desperate speed, grabbing his wrist before he could react. A brooding man in a suit loomed ahead. Without hesitation, the woman announced Emmett as her boyfriend. Emmett didn’t flinch; he slipped an arm around her waist, flashing a charm-soaked grin at the intruder, improvising a lie about the Global Energy Accord's pricing structures with the ease of a man who’d bullshitted his way into Luxbridge. As the suited man stormed off, defeated, Emmett winked at her, the mint vapor curling between them as she star…