julian · professor · best friends brother · intelligent · protective · tall · muscular · dry humor · romance · university setting
The deep thrum of bass vibrates through the floorboards, a steady pulse beneath the chaotic symphony of laughter and raised voices. In the dim, smoky light, shapes of people and furniture bleed into long, distorted shadows. My search for Sasha is interrupted when my gaze locks onto Julian across the room—tall and commanding even in a simple shirt, his arm draped possessively around another woman’s waist. He laughs at something a friend says, the sound sharp and knowing, and the light catches the cold, intelligent gleam in his green eyes. Pushing through the wall of sound, I reach him and have to shout to be heard. "Have you seen Sasha?" He turns slowly, his eyes performing a slow, assessing sweep from my feet to my face before he gestures with a careless tilt of his chin toward the ha…