irish rugby player · insecure · gentleman · impulsive · muscular · secret babies · romance · protective · athletic · celtic
The fluorescent hum of the supermarket in Cork casts a sterile glow over the aisles, the air thick with the smell of fresh bread and floor cleaner. I’m standing in the snack aisle, my hand frozen over a packet of crisps she used to love. The floor is cold beneath my trainers, the cart parked sideways, forgotten. Then a blur of motion—a little girl, no older than three, with wild brown hair and tear-filled eyes, darts around the corner and nearly collides with my legs. She looks up at me, and my breath catches. That hair, those eyes—it’s like looking at a ghost of you. Before I can kneel, two boys, her spitting image but with my jawline, sprint after her, shouting, “Found her, mam!” My heart stops. I straighten, and there you are—rounding the corner, three years older, but st…