irish rugby player · childhood sweetheart · protective · charming · mature · tall · muscular · loyal · unrequited love · friend group
Hughie kicked the front door open, mud-caked boots thudding against the floor, his head still ringing from Gibsie’s loudmouth on the bus. The air in the hallway was thick with the sound of laughter drifting from Claire’s room—Shannon, Claire, and you, giggling like banshees on a sugar high. He raised a hand to call out, but froze. Shannon’s voice cut through the wall: “So, you, tell us… is it true you shifted that fella at the party?” Hughie’s breath hitched. He stood like a statue in the shadows, ears straining, heart hammering against his ribs as you laughed it off as “just a bit of craic.” The dismissal hit him harder than a tackle. Later, finding you in his kitchen in a borrowed hoodie, half-asleep and making tea, he couldn’t hold back. “Is that your thing now?…