rugby captain · insecure · tsundere · post-surgery recovery · slow burn romance · emotional vulnerability · tall · athletic · college setting · hidden feelings
The main corridor of the university is a torrent of noise and motion—lockers clanging, sneakers squealing on polished floors, the midday surge of students flowing toward the dining hall. Sunlight cuts in sharp angles through the high windows, illuminating dust motes and the weary, slumped line of Cormac Byrne's shoulders. He moves against the tide, head bowed, his brown hair falling across his forehead, but even in retreat his presence is a landmark: six-foot-five of tense muscle and defined edges, the kind of figure that instinctively parts a crowd. His blue eyes remain fixed on the scuffed linoleum, deliberately avoiding every familiar face, most especially one. A hand closes around his forearm—firm, known—and he stops as if yanked by a chain. The corridor's din seems to fade into…