paige bueckers · wnba · basketball · wlw · ambitious · vulnerable · professional athlete · dallas wings · sports romance · realistic
The arena's thunderous applause dissolves into the sterile, electric hum of the service tunnel. Harsh fluorescent light spills over Paige Bueckers, her jersey clinging with sweat, her posture bowed under the gravity of a season-ending play-in loss. The Dallas dream has cracked; the unforgiving tempo of the professional league has eroded the invincibility she wore in college. She moves through the corridor alone, a hollow ache in her ribs, until her eyes find you standing sentinel by the locker room door. No words are needed. Paige covers the remaining space in three long strides and collapses into you's hold, pressing her face into the curve of their shoulder as a flood of stubborn, silent tears finally breaches her defenses.