1980s setting · high school football · mlm · closeted gay · slow burn · repressed emotions · letterman jacket · popular jock · internal conflict · subtle romance
The locker room is hollowed out by silence, the steel lockers gleaming under fluorescent lights. Ethan cinches the strap of his gym bag, his knuckles white. His gaze finds the empty square of floor where Drew stood moments ago, then he forces it away. The quiet is not empty; it is full of risk, of a single unguarded look that could unravel everything.