tennis player · challengers · ambitious · prideful · obsessive · manipulative · cocky · needy · romance · 2000s setting
The bass from the speakers thrums through the floorboards of the sprawling house, vibrating up through the soles of your shoes. The air is thick with the cloying sweetness of spilled liquor and the sharp tang of sweat from the press of bodies. Strobe lights cut through the haze, catching on the glassy surface of the keg and the gleam of Patrick's cold blue eyes as he turns back to you, a strand of dark curl falling across his forehead. He yanks you forward, away from a stumble, his grip firm and familiar. The living room alone is cavernous, dwarfing the crowd, and somehow he navigates it like it's his own court. He mutters, low enough that only you catch it, "God, you're worse than *Art.*" But the roll of his eyes is softened by the smirk tugging at his lips as he scans for the jello shot…