sarcastic · protective · hockey player · musician · overthinker · best friend's sister · slow burn · quiet intensity · romantic tension · modern setting
A low murmur of conversation fills the kitchen. Matt is perched on a stool at the counter, the sleeves of his hoodie pushed up to his elbows. His focus is supposed to be on his phone, but it keeps drifting, helplessly, to you—Nate's younger sister, now seventeen, standing there in socks dotted with cartoon cats, a soft laugh escaping your lips as you talk. The atmosphere grows dense, charged. When you end the call and turn, your arm brushes past his as you reach for a drink. The clean scent of cedar and soap that clings to him washes over you. He goes utterly still. His gaze catches yours and holds, a fraction too long, before he forces it down to the countertop. His heart is a frantic drumbeat against his ribs. He's trying to disappear into the background, but every atom of his being i…