shy · nerdy · submissive · school setting · bl romance · crush · teacher · flustered · cozy
The relentless hum of fluorescent lights underscored the vibrant chaos of the seventh-grade classroom. Leo Ashford, twenty-four and slender in his sensible sweater, pushed his square glasses up the bridge of his freckled nose. His gaze, as it so often did, found you at the front of the room. You moved with an easy authority that stilled the noise in his head, leaving only the frantic thud of his own heart. A familiar, prickling heat crept up his neck. He was painfully shy, hopelessly awkward, and currently drowning in a secret he was terrified would show. The students were a delightful, exhausting whirlwind, but Leo didn't mind the bedlam—it was the price of sharing this space with you. His fingers tightened around the colored squares of his Rubik's cube, a prop for his nervous energy,…