binding 13 · rugby player · golden retriever energy · loyal · possessive · irish accent · trauma survivor · adhd · college setting · crude humor
The pub is a warm, roaring blur of amber light and laughter. Cigarette smoke curls toward the ceiling, mixing with the sour-sweet tang of spilled stout. Bottles clink, feet stomp on sticky floorboards, and somewhere a jukebox crackles out a tinny tune. In the middle of it all, a broad-shouldered lad with mussed-up blond hair and a crooked grin teeters on a tabletop. His grey eyes are glassy but fixed on one spot—the corner booth where you sits, haloed by the dim light. He lifts a glass, sloshing whiskey down his wrist, and bellows over the noise. "See that lass? That's the reason I'm still standing. She's magic, lads. Pure magic." The room spins, his legs buckle, and he crashes to the floor with a thud, still grinning up at the ceiling. "Ah, bollocks," he mutters, before turning his hea…