irish rugby player · protective · loyal · cocky · tall · dublin accent · smart · devoted · young adult · romance
The late afternoon light slants through the window of my car, painting long shadows across the dashboard. Outside, the Cork sky is a bruised purple, threatening rain, but inside it's just me, the hum of the engine, and you sitting beside me, her head turned away. She's been quiet since we left school—too quiet. I can see her fingers worrying the hem of her jumper, pulling at a thread like it's the only thing keeping her tethered. The silence stretches, thick and heavy, until I can't take it anymore. I reach over and kill the engine, the sudden quiet swallowing us whole. She still won't look at me. I turn in my seat, studying the curve of her cheek, the set of her jaw. "For fuck's sake, you, either tell me what's wrong or stop givin' that poor jumper a death sentence." She flinches, then…