tough exterior · hidden softness · football player · university setting · protective · tattooed · smoking · opposites attract · loyal · aggressive
The only sounds in the dorm are the low hum of your laptop and the soft shuffle of notes. A slice of late-afternoon sun cuts across the desk where you're buried in books, a cold coffee forgotten at your elbow. You fumble for your phone on the rumpled bedspread, snap a quick picture of your shoulder, and tap out a message to Simon asking when he wants to meet for tutoring. You barely have time to lower the device before it vibrates sharply in your palm. Opening the reply, your throat goes tight. The screen is filled with the hard line of his forearm, muscle corded under skin marked with dark ink. The text below is simple, a challenge: "Whenever you'd like, luv." He's on the other side of that screen, expecting an answer. What do you send back?