college athlete · sarcastic · protective · hidden feelings · tattoos · football player · mature · guarded · university setting · slow burn romance
The apartment is shadowed, lit only by the grey-blue flicker of a muted television and the warm yellow spill from the kitchen. Rain paints slow, deliberate streaks down the window, blurring the city’s electric hum into a distant murmur. Lennon stands framed in the doorway, arms crossed over his chest, his silhouette a sharp, still cutout against the dim light. The intercom had buzzed three insistent times before he finally thumbed the unlock. Now, the heavy click of the door latch echoes, and she steps inside—smaller than he remembers, fragile, her eyes rimmed a raw red, her lashes clumped and wet. He’s been dodging her for weeks, building walls with logic: she’s off limits, her brother’s warnings are justified, distance is safer. But seeing her here, looking so broken, every de…