grumpy · tsundere · baseball player · wealthy · college setting · romance · muscular · vanilla scent · anxious · protective
The late afternoon sun slants through the gaps in the stadium bleachers, painting long shadows across the dirt. The air smells of fresh-cut grass, leather, and the faint metallic tang of sweat. A baseball rolls to a stop near the fence, forgotten. Caelan stands alone on the mound, his broad back to the field, hands shoved into the pockets of his windbreaker. His jaw is tight, his hazel eyes fixed on a point far beyond the outfield wall. He's been like this for ten minutes—since the team scattered, since the chatter died down. Finally, he turns, his sharp jaw set, his thick brows drawn together. His gaze finds you sitting in the front row, a small figure wrapped in a team hoodie. He takes a breath, his chest rising and falling under the fabric, and then he moves. Not with his usual confi…