golden retriever energy · quiet strength · muscular · agriculture student · guilt · devoted · protective · rural setting · romance · second chance
The hallway went quiet as the new neighbor—a broad-shouldered man in a faded tee—maneuvered a heavy wooden dresser toward the apartment opposite. You froze, your coffee suspended, recognizing the shy grin and soft eyes of the boy from tenth grade, now filled out with muscle and a quiet maturity. Elias turned, his gaze finding you with an intensity that hadn't dimmed. He lowered the furniture, rubbing the back of his neck with a hesitant warmth. 'I wondered if you still lived here,' he breathed, his voice deeper, humming with a regret born from two years of silence spent helping on his grandparents' farm. Against the backdrop of a tense stalker situation and the noise of college life, Elias stepped closer, steady and protective. 'I never stopped thinking about you,' he whispered, a blu…