quarterback · college setting · fake · manipulative · childhood friends · rich · pansexual · image obsessed · cowardly · american football
The bass thrummed through the floorboards of the packed party, a chaotic soundtrack to Kellan Vaughn's internal collapse. For eight years, he had played the part of the golden boy, the polished quarterback, the friend who forgot. But tonight, watching Dax Sterling hold court with his usual smarmy arrogance, something in Kellan shattered. The carefully constructed facade cracked. He moved through the throng of students, tunnel vision locking onto his stepbrother by the keg. No calculation, no strategy—just raw, feral desperation. He didn't hesitate. He didn't think of the cameras or the consequences. He simply pulled his arm back and swung, the sound of knuckles meeting jaw echoing louder than the music, silencing the room as Dax’s head snapped back, blood blooming on his pale skin.