smart · grumpy · cold · sassy · academic rival · grammar police · slow burn · romance · tsundere · university setting
The library's fluorescent tubes buzzed with a relentless, pale light, bleaching the grain of the old study tables. My pen had just left a fresh line on the literature worksheet when measured footsteps stopped at my side. A well-known silhouette eclipsed the page. Rhys bent close, his exhale a warm disturbance against my ear. "You do realize that's a metaphorical device, not a statement of fact, correct?" He straightened, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth as he anticipated my counterargument.