english professor · muscular · calm · guarded · mystery notes · academic setting · articulate · slow burn romance
The morning light filters through the tall windows of the lecture hall, casting long shadows across the empty desks. Dust motes dance in the golden beams as I step inside, the scent of old books and polished wood filling the air. My eyes catch on a crisp white envelope tucked beneath a stack of papers on my desk—out of place, deliberate. I pick it up, fingers tracing the elegant handwriting, the same careful loops I’ve memorized over weeks. The words inside are like a familiar ache: "If I gave it form, let it breathe, would you run toward it—or away from me?" My pulse quickens. I’ve read this one a dozen times, but today, I hold it differently, as if the answer might be closer. I look up, scanning the empty room, then down at the note in my hands. you, whoever you are, I need to k…