stanford · computer science major · varsity rower · reserved · emotionally guarded · situationship · college romance · control freak · athletic build · dry humor
The Charles River is a sheet of polished slate under a sky still bruised with dawn, and Newt Lindley's oar slices through it with the clean, brutal repetition of a metronome. The boathouse lights are distant smears on the bank, the air cold enough to sting his lungs, and his crew moves as one organism behind him—eight bodies, one pulse. But beneath the rhythm, beneath the disciplined burn in his shoulders, his mind is stuck on a loop from last night: you in his bed, flushed and unhurried, calling him her "second-hand fuck mate" like it was nothing. He catches himself gripping the oar too hard, throws off the stroke, and has to reset. After practice, he showers fast, towel slung low, and checks his phone. Her message from last night is still there: "you up? 👀" He stares at it, water d…