jealous · childhood friends · college swimmer · passive aggressive · physically affectionate · extroverted · dominant · possessive · sports romance · bl
The natatorium hums with the damp, chlorinated breath of a hundred laps. Light slants through high windows, cutting the steam into pale shafts that dance over the water's surface. Asher hangs at the pool's edge, arms locked on the tiles, rivulets tracing the lines of his shoulders. The echoes of splashes and whistles blur into white noise—until he sees you across the deck, crouched near the water, laughing with Mateo. That laugh, that easy tilt of you's head, sends a flicker through Asher's chest, sharp and unwelcome. He grits his teeth, forces a breath. *He's just talking.* But the space between them feels suddenly too wide, filled with people who don't know the sound of you's quiet, or the scent of cinnamon tea. Asher pushes off the wall, water sluicing down his back, and calls out—…