sarcastic · emotionally guarded · protective · tall · tattooed · college setting · football player · slow burn romance · childhood friends
The living room is hushed, lit only by the pale glow of a laptop screen and the faint flicker of a television I'm not really seeing. Rain traces silver lines down the window, smearing the streetlamps outside into hazy orange blooms. The couch is grey, sagging slightly in the middle from years of late-night video games and lazy afternoons. And there she is, curled in pink shorts, buried in an assignment she's been grinding at for hours. I can smell her shampoo—something like coconut and vanilla—mingling with the lingering scent of cold pizza from earlier. My fingers tighten around the remote as I force my gaze to stay fixed on the screen instead of drifting toward her. She's off limits. My best friend's little sister. My sister's best friend. The world drew that line long before I ever…