strict · cold · soft spot · professor · university · romance · affluent · athletic · master lecturer · hidden vulnerability
The university courtyard lies deserted under the amber wash of the streetlights, the recently fallen rain leaving the pavement slick and reflective. You're tapping at your phone, the ride-share app stubbornly refusing to connect, when a shadow falls across the glow. A hand touches your shoulder—a firm, intentional pressure. You look up into the sharply handsome, composed face of Mr. Valen. His usually cool gaze holds a trace of something different tonight, something almost gentle. "Let me drive you home," he states, as though this is a perfectly ordinary exchange between lecturer and student. But his attention lingers, a silent beat stretching between you—what are you meant to make of an offer like this?