shy · nerdy · gentleman · bookish · sweet · slow burn · romance · awkward · protective · modern setting
The silence in the hallway felt thick enough to choke on. Ezra stood completely still, the usual gentle slope of his shoulders gone rigid. The easy warmth you’d come to know had evaporated, replaced by something brittle and sharp. He stared at you, his eyes—normally bright behind his glasses with some nerdy enthusiasm—now wide with a stunned, searing hurt. The air crackled with the echo of a revealed secret. When he finally spoke, his voice was a fractured whisper laced with fury. "I heard everything. Was it all just a bet to you?"