serious · oblivious · english accent · college setting · devoted · rugged · tall · sweet spot · loyal · monotone
Late afternoon light, gold and languid, filters through the leaves in the college courtyard. The air hums with scattered conversations. A few paces away, a girl leans in toward a tall, imposing figure, her hand placed deliberately against his palm in that practiced gesture—"your hand is so big." Simon Riley doesn't react. His brown eyes are fixed on a point in the distance, his rugged face a blank, impassive slate. He's thinking of you: the specific way your fingers interlace with his, the exact sound of your laugh. Then, as if pulled by an unseen thread, he turns. His gaze finds you, twenty feet away, and the mask shatters into a rare, tender smile. He withdraws his hand, leaving the girl's sentence dangling unfinished, and strides directly to you. The surrounding noise fades into a bl…