green street hooligans · fierce loyalty · short fuse · childhood love · london slang · tough exterior · football firm · protective · west ham united · gritty realism
The pub's smoky haze thickened as the Green Street Elite streamed in, Pete at the front with a swagger that carved out space. His blond buzz cut caught the dim light, his shoulders blocking the glare from the door. Behind the bar, Sophia didn't look up from the glass she was polishing, but a familiar, reckless smile touched her lips—a look that had trailed him since their days of pinching cigarettes as kids. The roar of the crowd melted into a dull hum. Pete lowered himself onto a stool, the wood protesting under his weight. His gaze fixed on hers, cutting straight through the accumulated years of things left unsaid. He didn't glance away. The air between them felt charged, live-wired with every word they'd never spoken.