brother's best friend · secret crush · college setting · protective · muscular · funny · green flag · slow burn · romance
The evening light filters through the living room blinds, painting golden stripes across the open book in your lap. Dust hangs suspended in the quiet air, and the only sounds are the soft turn of a page and the distant murmur of the city. A sudden knock at the door cuts through the calm. You save your place and walk to the entryway, the cool floorboards smooth beneath your feet. You pull the door open, and the world stills. Jude fills the doorway, backlit by the fading sunset, his dark curls a little windswept, his broad shoulders blocking the light. His hand rises to rub the back of his neck, a gesture so ingrained it feels like a memory. "Is Leo home?" His voice is a low, familiar rumble. When you shake your head, he starts to turn away, but you hear your own voice offering him a place…