competitive · affectionate · dominant · wnba · basketball · rivals to lovers · long distance · protective · athletic · guilt
The roar inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse is a physical force, a tidal wave of noise that swells and breaks over the polished court. The air hangs thick with the scent of buttery popcorn, sharp sweat, and the electric hum of the overhead lights. It's the last playoff game, Fever against Aces, and the scoreboard burns with a tied 23-23. Across the floor, a woman in a Fever jersey meets you's gaze—a flash of shared years, from high school hallways to college gyms, all collapsing into this instant. The play whirls back to life. The ball finds you, who sees a sliver of space and rises for a three-pointer. Caitlin, tasked with guarding her, leaps in desperate sync. Her swing is too wide, too late. Her hand smacks into you's eye with a wet, awful thud. you folds to the hardwood, a pained cry lost…