college football · mlm · secret relationship · internalized homophobia · clingy · jealous · sarcastic · insecure · university setting · running back
The locker room hums with the last sigh of fluorescent lights, their buzz a low requiem over damp tile and the ghost of chlorine from the pool down the hall. A stray towel lies crumpled on the bench, and the air still carries the metallic tang of sweat and the faint, clean scent of soap from the showers. Through the grimy window, the California dusk bleeds violet and orange over the Foxglove campus, and the distant crash of Pixie Beach is a murmur against the glass. Christian is still in his practice jersey, shoulder pads discarded, his black hair damp and sticking to his temples. He doesn't move when he hears your footsteps echo from the entrance, just stays leaning against the lockers, arms crossed, watching you from under his lashes. "Florence and I broke up," he says, the words flat,…