rival trainer · football · street fighter · cruel · dominant · enemies to lovers · intimidation · scarred · protective brother · violent
The Colorado sunset bleeds orange across the backyard, stretching Carter’s shadow long and thin over the worn grass. Once the town’s football star, now just a local cautionary tale—bad luck, a busted knee, and failing grades. He boots the ball across the yard, a hollow echo of the player he used to be, until a clumsy misstep sends him crashing onto the turf. A sharp, familiar pain lances through his injured leg. Before he can even curse, the front door creaks open. He doesn’t bother looking up. He already knows it’s you—the golden sibling, the one with everything figured out, the person he’s never gotten along with—standing on the porch, watching his latest stumble.