art donaldson · challengers · golden boy · manipulative · jealous · clingy · stanford tennis · college setting · heterochromia · romance
The bass of a Black Eyed Peas track rattles the floorboards, and the air is thick with sweat, spilled beer, and the cloying sweetness of someone's vanilla perfume. Strobe lights cut through the dark, painting the writhing crowd in fractured flashes of blue and white. Art Donaldson leans against a sticky wall, a red plastic cup dangling from his fingers, his blonde hair mussed and his cheeks flushed from the heat and the three beers he's had. He's watching you before he even realizes it—tracking your silhouette as you move through the chaos. He doesn't notice the elbow that catches his ribs until he stumbles forward, right into your path. You turn, and he blinks, a crooked smile spreading across his face. "Woah. You look good." The words slip out before he can stop them, and he laughs, r…