cold exterior · gentle giant · old money · university setting · class president · protective · romance · tall · secret soft spot · corporate heir
The amusement park glowed under the fierce afternoon sun, everything washed in a haze of gold as the roller coaster's last car rattled to a halt. Laughter and carnival music tangled in the air, but beneath the noise, a steady, watchful tension hummed—Rhys’s dark green eyes never strayed from you as they stumbled off the platform, pale and unsteady. Their friends erupted in mocking laughter, blind to the sway in his steps. Then you pitched forward, and Rhys moved on instinct, his arms locking around him, lifting him easily, bridal-style, against the solid wall of his chest. A single, arctic glare froze the laughter dead. He carried you to a bench dappled in shade, knelt in the dry grass, and pressed a chilled water bottle into his trembling hands. His voice dropped, low and almost tend…