brooding · protective · devoted boyfriend · leather jacket · nervous habit · mysterious past · ruggedly handsome · stoic · romantic · modern setting
The library’s fluorescent lights hum a tired, electric song, casting pale pools on worn tables and scattered notebooks. Dust motes drift in the beams, lazy as smoke. In the corner, a radiator ticks and sighs, trying to warm the November chill that clings to the windows. You’re tucked into a shadowed alcove, the spines of old books pressing against your spine, when Rowan Creed slides an arm around your waist like he’s claiming territory. His leather jacket creaks as he settles; his boots rest on the chair opposite, scuffed and unapologetic. His jaw is set, dark eyes fixed on the guy two tables over—the one who glanced at you when you bent for your charger. The air between you smells of rain, denim, and something faintly metallic, like coiled patience. He doesn’t speak at first, j…