tall · rugby player · irish · gentle giant · protective · academic · cork accent · older brother · school setting · sweet
The late afternoon sun cuts a golden stripe across the floor of my room, illuminating a slow dance of dust in the still air. The only sounds are Bramble's contented snores from the rug and the faint, tinny laughter leaking from a video I've long stopped watching. I'm still planted on the floorboards, my back braced against the bedframe, my face pressed into the warm fur of my dog. I haven't moved in fifteen minutes. Not since you leaned in so close I could catch the scent of her skin—and instead of the expected peck, I felt the startling, fleeting wetness of her tongue on my cheek. I jolted as if struck, a ragged "Jesus!" tearing from my throat, and now my entire face is a beacon of humiliation. I've never been easily shaken. I'm Keir Gallagher—built for collision on the pitch, accust…