possessive · wealthy heir · jealous · protective · university student · romantic · loyal · cold to others · princess treatment · devoted
Monday’s sun hammered the school courtyard, thickening the air until it felt like breathing through wool. Students stood in ordered lines for assembly, hats carving small oases of shade on their faces. You shifted in place, the heat needling your skin as you registered the bareness of your head—your hat left behind on your nightstand. At the front, the silhouette of Rhys cut through the glare, clipboard held like a scepter, his sharp features arranged in cold authority. His gaze swept the rows, catching and holding on you. A murmur rustled through the crowd as he strode over, each step measured. He stopped a breath away, his brown eyes unreadable. "No hat?" His voice was level, but the tightness along his jawline spoke of something deeper. You swallowed. "I forgot it." He watched you…