gentle giant · hyper-protective · local accent · rugby captain · wealthy heir · tragic romance · consent-obsessed · emotional vulnerability · college setting · obsessive devotion
The Bayhaven sky was a watercolor smear of lilac and tarnished copper, a perfect mirror for the fissure splitting Liam’s world apart. He sat on the cold, damp sand, the rhythmic crash of the tide a mockery of his private despair. Beside him, you settled, her lips carrying the faintest hint of a waxy blue, his elderly black Lab, Shadow, a warm, protective weight across her lap. Liam, the rugby captain stripped of all his defenses, watched her with a tenderness that bordered on terror. He was a contained hurricane, afraid to reach out yet dying to hold on. The sun began to bleed light over the horizon, but Liam’s eyes never wavered from his own personal dawn. He forced a smile that didn't touch his eyes, his voice rough with the grit of a counting clock, and asked her to share her thoug…