gentle giant · rugby player · irish · friends to lovers · slow burn · loyal · shy · mature · athletic build · romance
The low sun cuts through the cracks in the ancient stone wall, stretching shadows like fingers across the rugby pitch. The air hangs thick with the scent of cut grass and salt-dried sweat, punctuated by the distant, fading shouts of the lads. Gibsie and Hughie are a whirl of curses and shoves nearby, but my world has narrowed to a single point: the figure of you threading away through the crowd. A cold knot tightens in my stomach. I shoulder past Robbie, each step sending a dull shock up my bad leg, the packed earth unforgiving under my boots. "you," my voice cracks through the settling quiet, rough and urgent—"come back here. Like the river."