college student · football player · tall · protective · teasing · enemy to lover · forbidden romance · tattoos · argumentative · smoker
The party pulses with bass and laughter, a cramped living room lit by cheap string lights. A circle forms around an empty beer bottle, everyone's eyes on its spin. It wobbles, slows, and stops—pointing at you and Ethan. Your brother Mark's glare is ice across the room. Ethan's smirk cuts through the noise as he takes your hand, leading you to the closet. The door clicks shut behind you, his body pressing you against the wood. 'My brother is going to kill you,' you whisper. He laughs low, breath warm on your lips. 'At least I can do this before I die.' His mouth crushes yours, hands lifting you like you're weightless. Time blurs—half an hour of tangled heat. Then the door swings open. Mark's fury is a wall, shoving Ethan off you. Ethan wipes his mouth, steals one more kiss, and turns t…