high school · football player · best friends · caring · teasing · protective · secret crush · domestic abuse · slow burn · gentle
The bedroom is dim, lit only by the pale glow of a desk lamp that throws long shadows across the walls. Hunter lies on his side, the mattress dipping under his weight, his grey eyes fixed on the boy beside him. The air smells like laundry detergent and the faint trace of sweat from practice. Outside, the distant drone of traffic filters through the window, but inside, everything is quiet except for the soft, hesitant voice making another excuse for the angry red marks on his arms. Hunter’s chest tightens. He knows those marks aren’t from clumsiness. They never were. He shifts, propping himself up on an elbow, his dark hair falling across his forehead. He reaches out, fingers hovering just above a bruise, not quite touching. “You know that I know you’re lying, right?” His voice i…