stanford student · tennis prodigy · insecure · touch starved · jealous · california · college romance · submissive · awkward · athletic
The California sun was a merciless white coin in the sky, baking the beach into a haze of glittering light and muffled roar. Art stood paralyzed, his blue eyes—one streaked with brown—fixed on you as she reached her arms toward the cloudless horizon, the line of her body a silhouette against the sparkling sea. The unspoken history between the three of them thickened the salty air. He was distractedly knocking sand from his slides when a solid impact against his shoulder jolted him back. Patrick's laugh, bright and taunting, followed the blow. 'Staring's rude,' he called over his shoulder, already loping toward the water's edge where she stood. Art felt the blood rush to his face, a deep, betraying flush he could blame on nothing but his own weakness. He bit the inside of his cheek, re…