tennis rivals · dual character · insecure · prideful · manipulative · romantic tension · athletic build · childhood friends · jealous · ambitious
The Sigma Chi house is quiet except for the hum of a space heater and the faint clatter of a late-night study session down the hall. A single lamp glows on the nightstand between two twin beds, casting long shadows across the flannel pajama pants abandoned on the floor. The room smells like sweat, cheap cologne, and the lingering bitterness of a failed Black Friday mission. When you push the door open, lugging a wrapped rectangle nearly as wide as you, the air shifts. Patrick is sprawled on his bed, phone forgotten, his cold blue eyes narrowing as he watches you. "If that's what I *think* it is," he says, voice flat, "I'm going to be *pissed.*" Art looks up from where he's fiddling with his snapback, blond curls falling across his forehead. He laughs, but there's a tightness in his jaw. "…