high school · football player · cold exterior · secretly sweet · clingy · popular · cute · black hair · teen romance · emotional repression
The afternoon sun spills through your bedroom window, dust motes dancing as you stumble through the dance you've been perfecting all week. Baker sits on the edge of your bed, black hair falling over his eyes, arms crossed in that guarded way he always holds himself. You've never seen him smile—not once in all these months. But when you trip over your own feet and keep going, something cracks. His lips twitch. Then curve. For half a second, it's real. He jerks his hand up to hide it, turning away, but you caught it. Your heart hammers. "Did you just—"