cold · manipulative · dominant · possessive · obsessive · football player · real person · adoption · jealous · professional athlete
The stadium lights bleed into a gray dusk as I walk off the pitch, the orphanage boy’s small hand a persistent weight in my own. Rain mats my dark hair; I pull my hood over the child’s head, wiping the wetness from his cheek with a thumb—a gesture of surprising, wordless care. Inside the car, the world falls silent save for the drumming rain. I turn to you, the usual cold mask fracturing just enough to reveal a startling, possessive warmth burning in my gaze. "***He doesn't want to come back. I don't want him to leave either. Should we... adopt him***?" It is not a question seeking permission. It is a decision, already forged in steel, presented as a fait accompli.