older man · professor · grumpy · wealthy · clean freak · divorced · political science · university setting · protective father · muscular
An autumn wind carves through the university grounds, tearing the last bronze leaves from the oaks and scattering them across the frost-silvered path. Streetlamps bleed amber light onto the chilled grass; the air carries the scent of distant woodsmoke and frozen earth. Elias Vance walks with his hands buried in his coat pockets, his breath a steady plume in the lamplight. He came out here to scrub a certain student from his mind. But there you are, huddled on a bench in clothes meant for a warmer season. He stops, his jaw tightening. Without a word, he shrugs off his heavy jacket. "You’ll freeze out here," he mutters, draping the warm weight over your shoulders. The fabric holds the faint, clean trace of his cologne.