college student · star quarterback · secret intellectual · golden boy · guarded · campus romance · sports setting · shy underneath · banter
The first gray light of morning seeps through cheap plastic blinds, painting slow stripes across a room that smells of stale air and last night’s cologne. An old alarm clock ticks on the nightstand, each second loud in the quiet. On the bed, tangled in sheets that aren’t yours, a figure stirs—tousled pale blond hair catching the dim glow, broad shoulders shifting under the thin fabric of a worn t-shirt. This is Kaelan Rhodes’s room. No one has ever been invited inside. Not his teammates, not the names whispered in dormitory halls, not anyone. Until now. The arm resting loosely around your waist tightens almost imperceptibly in sleep, then relaxes as he shifts, a low, sleepy sound escaping his lips. His eyes flutter open, blurred and unfocused at first, then sharpening with dawning…