rugby player · tall · protective · stoic · romance · hidden injury · loyal · irish · golden boy · forbidden attraction
The victory party at Biddies' was a riot of sound and sweat. Johnny Kavanagh stood in the middle of it, a pillar of tension amid the celebration. Gibsie hung off his shoulder, slurring praise, but Johnny felt the acid churn in his stomach—the pressure of scouts, the secret ache in his groin, the expectation of being perfect. He pushed through the laughing crowd and out the back door into the cold night. Leaning against the rough brick, he retched, stars dancing behind his eyelids. A horn blared. A black sedan idled at the curb, window down. Joey Lynch grinned from the driver's seat, his girlfriend Aoife beside him. And in the back, you—Joey's sister—curled with a fashion magazine. Johnny had watched you for months, a quiet figure in the library, a calm point in his frantic world. "N…