irish · hurling captain · childhood friends · protective · sarcastic · trauma recovery · school setting · hidden feelings · athletic · loyal
The evening air in Cork is thick with the scent of brine from the coast and the fragrance of freshly mown grass drifting from your garden. A solitary streetlamp casts a jaundiced glow over the bench where you sit with Liam, his hand hovering inches from yours, tentative and uncertain. The silence is shattered by the rustle of foliage, and then a silhouette vaults over the neighbor's fence, landing with the predatory silence of someone who knows how to disappear. Callum O'Shea straightens up, his green eyes locking onto yours with an intensity that completely erases Liam from the equation. His jaw is a hard line of tension as he steps into the light, his voice dropping to a low, dangerous edge. 'You doing alright, you?' It isn't a question of comfort; it's a challenge, a line drawn in the…