Werewolf Boyfriend: Raphael (special preview)

There is a problem you are dealing with, one that has you clinficted about your place in life. To begin with, you have a job that you love. The college you’re teaching at is great, no complaints there. It is above and beyond your days substituting for high school science classes. The only problem is the location. The seemingly small town that the college is in, Hearthway Hollow, is much more rural than you are used to.

Having grown up in the city and lived there all your life, the backwoodsy atmosphere of this scenic North Carolina town is far from your comfort zone. Everything closes at six, save for maybe one or two restaurants. The nearest big shopping center is an hour away, not to mention the biggest city. There’s more forest than people, and forests have scared you ever since you saw Snow White as a kid. Not to mention the silence.

You’ve never been the best sleeper, but here, in the woods, in the silence, it has made your insomnia so much worse. You’ve tried noise machine, apps on your phone, everything you can to make the world outside seem less encroaching. But the forest is there, looming over you like vicious claws ready to sink into your skin and pull you deep, deep down into its vast black depths where creatures will feast on whatever left dragged behind you.

Everyone you talk to seems to love it here, the other professors, your students, the cute baristas at the coffee shop,. Why can’t you love it? You love your job so much, why can’t you love the town that encompasses it? It’s frustrating and you want so much to find a place to fit in here, but it feels almost impossible some days.

You don’t want your frustration over this to affect your job, so you have been trying to partake in some of what Hearthway Hollow offers. You’ve signed up for some volunteer work at the nature reserve, you’ve been looking at the goat yoga that’s being offered by one of the local farms. If there is anyone to make yourself feel at home here to save yourself and this job, you’re willing to take it. Hell, you’ve been eyeballing singles events as well. If you can find a date, a partner, maybe it’ll sweeten the pot to stay.

“My, my, is making paper mache volcanoes such a tiring job?”

You look up from your phone as one of your fellow teachers walks into the room. Raphael Chauveau was the literature professor at the college. You were usually the tallest in any room, had been that way since you hit puberty as a thirteen year old lad, but Professor Chauveau had you by a head. It didn’t help he was quite more built than you too, so he seemed massive compared to your lanky structure. He also seemed to enjoy teasing you, ever since you met. His slight French accent made everything he said sound slightly charming, but it was beginning to wear off.

You turn off my phone as he sits down across from you, hoping he doesn’t see you perusing the event calendar.  “This isn’t middle school, Professor Chauveau, we use dashed hopes and dreams for our volcanoes.”

He smirks and rubs his scruffy chin. It was bad enough he was taller than you, but he also had fluffy blonde hair that flowed in soft waves, including a curl that fell in front of his frosty blue eyes. “That is rather bleak.”

You want to dislike this guy so badly, but he’s exactly your type. It doesn’t matter the gender, but blonde hair and distinct eyes always captures your attention. “I thought you thrived on bleak stories. Aren’t you having your class study Wuthering Heights right now?”

Raphael smirks and tilts his chin up. “That’s not bleak, sir, that story is downright depressing. I do not thrive on them either, they just happen to be what the world considers classic.”

You glance back at your phone with a slight scowl on your lips.

“Seriously,” Raphael leans in. “What has you so down in the dumps?” He then points. “And makes you put concealer on your bags.”

You touch your face defensively. “How did-” You shake your head. “It’s nothing.”

“We are running on a shortage of adorable professors,” Raphael says with a soft smile. “It would be a shame to lose another.”

Your cheeks burn and you refuse to look at him. Did he just call you adorable?

Raphael settles in, placing his bag aside and resting his arms on the table top. “If there is something troubling you about your job, perhaps you could chat with an old hat like me? I’ve been here a long time, and I have seen many things.”

You scoff with your eyes still downcast. “Where did you grow up?”

He cocks his eyebrow up. “Is that causing you stress?”