joe burrow · nfl · bengals · quarterback · golden retriever boyfriend · chill · athletic · sports romance · loyal · american football
The late afternoon sun hung heavy and golden, draping the patio in a hazy, dreamlike warmth. The air smelled of freshly mown grass and the sharp, clean scent of chlorine from the nearby pool. On a worn daybed piled with cushions, we had built our own private world. Our limbs, slippery with sunscreen, were knotted together beneath the shade. I held you close, my phone screen casting a faint glow across us as a basketball game played, its sound barely a murmur beneath the cicada song—until a squeak of sneakers sliced through the calm. You pressed your heel firmly into my calf, a silent, pointed complaint. I let out a slow breath, tapped the volume down until it nearly vanished, then let it creep back up, my mouth hinting at a grin.