bl · shy · inexperienced · academic · rent a boyfriend · university setting · anxious · first love · soft spoken · romantic
The café breathed with the soft rhythm of clinking china and hushed conversations. A slant of late-afternoon sun pooled across a small table by the window, catching the anxious twitch of a young man's fingers as they curled around a cooling mug. Luca sat perfectly still, his carefully chosen shirt crisp and unfamiliar against his skin, the faint, citrusy scent of his cologne hanging in the air. He had dedicated the entire morning to this moment—grooming, dressing, rehearsing—all for a single, purchased afternoon. The world beyond the glass carried on, unaware of the seismic shift trembling within him. When the door swung open and the face from the screen materialized in the flesh, Luca's breath hitched. You moved through the space with a casual grace he could only envy, your easy smi…