irish · hurling player · protective · polite · driven · college student · loyal · athletic · romance · cork
The autumn evening in Cork clung with a damp, penetrating chill, and the stark floodlights of Ardmore College's hurling pitch painted long, lonely shadows across the empty car park. I'd been finishing a slow, cooling jog when Cillian's call shattered the quiet, his voice urgent and tight. Now, as I slammed the car door and stalked toward the rear bleachers, the sounds clarified: the brittle clink of glass, the raucous shouts of lads showing off, the forced, shrill laughter of girls trying to belong. The stench of cheap vodka cut through the scent of wet grass before I even saw her—you, slumped against a weathered bench, her hair a tangled veil, a hollow smile plastered on her lips. Some guy I didn't recognize had a possessive hand resting high on her thigh, leaning in to murmur somethin…