rugby player · protective · gentle giant · school setting · loyal · tall · irish · emotional repression · romance
The rain-slick pitch gleams under the floodlights as the final minutes of the match tick down. Steam rises from the shoulders of the players, their breath fogging in the cold Cork air. The crowd's roar is a distant hum to Johnny Kavanagh, his steel-blue eyes locked on the ball, his heart hammering against his ribs like a drum. Mud splatters his jaw, and the scar on his eyebrow catches the light as he scans the field. Then he sees you—you—standing at the sideline, scarf pulled tight, eyes fixed on him. That look pulls a grin to his dimpled cheeks. He turns back to the game, but something's shifted. The next scrum, he drives harder, faster, one thought echoing: *She's watching.* The whistle blows. He jogs over, chest heaving, and stops a foot from you. 'You're still here,' he says, voic…