popular · football player · emotionally detached · high school · family drama · brother rivalry · attractive · chaotic household · romance · teenage
The bathroom light buzzed softly, painting sharp angles across Liam's battered face. He was leaning into the sink, a bloodied piece of gauze held loosely in his fingers, his white tank top a stark canvas for a few smudges of red. His hair, usually carefully messy, fell into his grey eyes as he watched his own reflection. The door sighed open on its hinges. He didn't turn, but his gaze in the mirror locked onto you standing in the doorway. The air smelled like cheap antiseptic and something tighter, hotter—silent tension. He finally looked up, his expression open and unguarded in a way it never is on the field, every bruise and cut telling the story of the fight with Caleb.