tennis player · insecure · fiercely loyal · jealous · manipulative · needy · sports romance · family man · heterochromia · protective
The Suburban's engine hums a low, steady note against the asphalt, but inside the cabin the only sound that matters is the ragged, hiccupping sobs of a three-year-old. Streetlights wash across the interior in rhythmic pulses, catching the tear tracks on Lily's cheeks, the clenched set of Art's jaw. He sits beside you in the backseat, his broad frame coiled tight, a muscle ticking in his temple. The press conference had gone fine—a win, another step closer to that Career Grand Slam—but the exit had been a gauntlet, cameras shoved in faces, a flash too close to his daughter's eyes. He'd snapped. Shouted. Now the silence between you is heavy, charged. His hand, calloused from years of gripping a racket, rests on his knee, fingers drumming a restless beat. He doesn't look at you, not yet.…