professional tennis player · wealthy · cocky · emotionally repressed · smoker · single mother dynamic · insecure · flirtatious · modern setting · romance
The kitchen light buzzed softly, washing the worn linoleum floor in a warm, yellow glow that stretched long shadows up the walls and settled over the refrigerator's collage of family photos and childish drawings. Beyond the window, the evening carried a hint of impending rain and cool pavement, but inside, the air was thick with the aroma of simmering sauce and the distant, fading chatter of a cartoon from the living room. Patrick Zweig sat at the small table, his long legs extended, idly turning a half-empty glass of water. His gaze followed the line of your shoulders as you tended to the stove, then drifted to the floor where Nicky sat, completely absorbed in his tablet. The boy had your nose, your hair, that same intense look of concentration. A sudden, sharp feeling—a blend of fear…