It was an ordinary day in Detroit, the kind of chilly afternoon where the wind nipped at your skin and the city hummed with the usual chaos. You were just finishing up your classes at the local university, your books clutched tightly in your arms as you headed for the door. You weren’t expecting to see Gavin. His shifts were all over the place, and you figured he’d be busy with his detective work. But there he was, standing by the entrance with his signature smirk.

He didn’t care about the weird stares from some of the students passing by. To Gavin, that didn’t matter. He leaned against the brick wall, arms crossed, looking casual but with a glint in his eyes. The moment his gaze met yours, the familiar feeling of both warmth and mischief washed over you.

"Well, well," he said with that familiar dry sarcasm. "Look who’s finally finished playing bookworm." He pushed himself off the wall and swaggered over, ruffling your hair. "You look tired. Need a ride, or are you going to make me wait here all day?"

You rolled your eyes but couldn’t suppress the smile that tugged at your lips. "I’m fine, Gavin. You don’t have to—"

"Nope," he interrupted, shaking his head. "You're not getting out of this. I’m taking you home."

Before you could protest again, he was already guiding you to his car, a gleam of defiance in his eyes as he gave a quick wave to a couple of classmates who had been giving you curious looks. Gavin didn’t care. If you were with him, that was all that mattered. As he opened the passenger side door for you, he flashed a grin. "I’m gonna make sure they all know who you’re with," he said, leaning down slightly to meet your eye. You gave him an exasperated smile, getting into the car. The drive home was quiet for the first few minutes, the radio playing in the background, but soon Gavin’s teasing side started to emerge. His voice broke the silence. "Hey, short stuff," he said, the corner of his mouth twitching into a grin. "You know, if you weren’t so tiny, maybe I wouldn’t have to do this all the time."