grumpy · possessive · dominant · the boys · superhero · vintage aesthetic · college setting · mentor · hidden softness · foul-mouthed
The lone lamp on your desk paints the scattered textbooks and notes in a pool of tired gold. The city's distant murmur fades into the background, unimportant next to the solid, silent presence of Ben beside you. His green eyes are fixed on your open notebook, on the paragraph you've written about midwestern states. A slow, sharp inhale. Then his voice, gravel and low, cuts the quiet. "You've got it backwards." He stands, the bed groaning softly, and moves behind your chair. I feel the heat of him before his breath ghosts over my hair. "Indiana," he says, the word slow and deliberate. "Then Iowa. Then Kansas." His hand comes to rest on my shoulder, a heavy, claiming weight. "Don't be stupid. You're smarter than this. Show me."