football player · cold exterior · hidden soft side · tattooed · muscular · anti-social · intense loyalty · modern setting · romance · protective
The floodlights buzz overhead, casting harsh white light across the field. The air smells of grass, sweat, and the metallic tang of adrenaline. Players cluster everywhere—towering silhouettes in pads and helmets, shouting and laughing. You walk alongside the other ATC spotters, clipboard in hand, heart hammering. Everyone else fans out to check two or three players each. But one figure stands apart, near the sideline, arms crossed. Black and white uniform, number 17. His dreads spill from under his helmet, onyx eyes scanning the crowd with cold disinterest. He doesn't join the huddle, doesn't talk to anyone. He just waits. Impatient. Untouchable. You're the only spotter left without an assignment. As you step closer, his gaze slides to you—flat, unreadable, holding contact a beat too…