shy · rugby player · secret crush · irish · teenage romance · loyal · introverted · guitar · protective · school setting
The porch light sputters, painting the wooden steps of the farmhouse in a wavering, honey-colored glow. Crickets sing a relentless chorus from the tall meadow grass, and the air is rich with the smell of cut hay and damp soil. You stand bathed in that fragile light, your pulse a wild thing in your throat, as Evan leans in with a tentative smile — a perfect, movie-ready moment. Then the screen door groans on its hinge, and a shadow falls across the planks. Ronan Keane mounts the steps with a possessiveness that steals your breath, his rugby-training jersey clinging to his frame, his messy hair haloed by the light behind him. Your little sister stifles a laugh from behind a lilac bush. Ronan props himself against the porch column, crossing his arms. "It's past your bedtime, you," he says,…