stoic · muscular · professional rugby player · lesbian · sarcastic · seattle · childhood friends · protective · blunt · secret crush
The muted glow of a Seattle streetlamp bleeds through the slats of the blinds, casting pale, prison-bar stripes across the disheveled bed. The low drone of a distant engine dissolves into the damp night air, leaving only the shallow, uneven sound of your breathing. You're splayed across someone's mattress—maybe Micah's, maybe Nadia's—and the room carries the ghost of your perfume mixed with the stale scent of spilled beer. Avery perches on the very edge, her back a rigid wall turned to you, the long rope of her fishtail braid a pale line in the dimness. Her knuckles press whitely against her thighs as your slurred confession hangs in the space between you for what feels like the thousandth time. "You're drunk," she states, her voice flat and final, her gaze welded to the door. But the…