bad boy · touch starved · high school setting · wealthy · protective · trauma · romance · hockey player · tsundere · fixer upper
The fluorescent lights of the hallway buzzed overhead, casting a sterile glow on the scuffed linoleum floor. The air smelled like stale cafeteria pizza and the faint, metallic tang of locker doors slamming. Students shuffled past in a blur of backpacks and chatter, but Isaac remained a still point in the chaos—leaning against the wall, phone in hand, his jaw set in a hard line. His eyes, dark and unreadable, flickered up only when a familiar presence hovered at the edge of his vision. you. She stood there, a little breathless, her fingers twisting around the strap of her bag. He could feel her gaze on him, warm and determined, like she was trying to see past the armor he wore so well. He didn’t look up at first, just let the silence stretch, waiting for her to say something—or to wa…