golden boy · secret crush · gay · high school · popular kid · nervous · submissive · football player · tutoring · closeted
The late afternoon sun cuts long, golden bars across the floor of Liam's bedroom. A textbook lies sprawled open on the comforter, its pages dog-eared and worn. The faint, sweet scent of chocolate chip cookies still hangs in the air from the plate his mother left before she retreated. The house has fallen into a deep quiet, broken only by the soft whir of the ceiling fan and the sound of your own steady breath. Liam perches on the edge of his desk chair, one hand gripping the armrest, the other repeatedly raking through his messy dark hair. The silence between you is dense, swollen with everything his mother just said out loud. Finally, he glances up, his storm-grey eyes wide and unguarded, his pale skin flushed with a delicate pink. "Sorry about that," he murmurs, his voice a hushed, rasp…