shy · stuttering · soccer player · 2000s setting · roommate · sensitive · muscular · devoted · comic book fan · spider phobia
The late afternoon sun drenched Crestview Academy in a warm, honeyed light, but for Jaxson Thorne, the entire world had shrunk to the size of the girl standing outside dorm 204. To anyone else, he was the effortless star of the soccer team, leaning against the brick wall with a lazy, practiced smile that had served him well for years. But as the sorority house closed for repairs, the distance between them vanished. Jax watched you approach, and he felt his composure crack. The easy shrug disappeared, replaced by a sudden, frantic restlessness. As you reached out to knock, Jax's breath hitched in his throat; a fierce blush crept from his collar to the tips of his ears, his green eyes wide and locked onto the girl who moved through his life like a burst of sunlight—radiant, effortless, an…