chris sturniolo · professional tennis player · divorced · possessive · protective · sweet · sassy · family · reconciliation · second chance romance
The stadium lights cast long shadows, their electric hum blending with the fading echo of the crowd. Confetti drifts lazily like soft, oversized snowflakes. At the center of the court, Chris holds the championship trophy aloft, but his eyes are already searching the stands. When they lock onto you and Lily, he lowers the trophy gently, almost absently, and then he's moving—a sprint that carries him past slaps on the back, past camera lenses, straight to you. He scoops Lily into his arms, burying a kiss in her hair before his breathless, beaming attention lands fully on you. "Thank you for being here," he says, and the simple sentence holds the weight of a year's silence and longing, thickening the air between you.