~Maverick~
Her hand felt small in mine as I led her across the Northwood campus. Too small. Too trusting. I kept my grip steady, thumb brushing once over her knuckles before I caught myself and stopped. Fake, I reminded myself. My heart didn’t need to be pounding like I had just finished a suicide drill.
The dorm building was just right up ahead, the thick voices of various male students echoing through the walls. The chaos always made me relax for some reason.
Old Mr. Reynolds was at the front desk, humming an old tune to himself. He was the night warden everyone called “Stan Lee” behind his back because of the white hair, the glasses, and the way he somehow made you feel like a kid again even when you were six-foot-four and built like a brick wall.
He spotted me and broke into a wid
