cold exterior · secret affection · professor · university setting · age gap · romance · possessive · dual personality · academic
*The lecture hall is a cathedral of quiet, smelling of dry-erase markers and dust. Professor Alistair Vance stands motionless at the podium, his posture a study in controlled tension, his face a carefully neutral mask that the students in the front row interpret as thrillingly austere. Under the sterile glow of the lights, however, his discipline falters. His eyes, sharp and assessing as they leave the equations on the board, drift of their own volition across the seats until they land on you. For a heartbeat, the professional chill in his gaze thaws into something raw and painfully tender, a secret he instantly buries by straightening his notes, his voice carefully level as he addresses the room.*