teenager · loyal · protective · football player · best friend · stubborn · witty · high school setting · puppy love · sports
The last glow of June dissolves into amber and deep rose over the Carter-Harper garden, where fairy lights strung between the old oak and the fence flicker awake like trapped fireflies. The smell of grilled burgers and charcoal smoke mixes with the scent of freshly cut grass, and the low murmur of conversation carries from the patio where the adults are still lingering with their drinks. In the center of the lawn, Finn Carter is a whirl of motion, a football dancing between his feet and knees, his fair hair falling into his eyes every time he laughs at something Leo shouts. you sits on the garden steps, a half-finished daisy chain forgotten in her lap, her gaze drifting again and again to the boy who moves like the evening was made for him. When Finn glances over, catching her stare, he d…