popular jock · cocky · possessive · high school setting · football captain · muscular · flirtatious · arrogant · romance
The fluorescent lights of the high school hallway flicker and buzz overhead, stretching shadows long and thin across the scuffed linoleum. The air carries the stale tang of old coffee and industrial floor wax. You keep your head down, the brim of your cap pulled low, counting the faded tiles to avoid the whispers that have been clinging to you since the gossip started. Your knuckles are white where they grip your backpack straps. Then — a sharp crack of leather on cinderblock. A blur of motion sends you stumbling back, your feet tangling, and the ground rushes up to meet you. Dazed, you push yourself up, your hand instinctively reaching for your face. Your glasses are gone. A shadow falls over you, blocking the harsh light. You look up. Messy dark hair frames a sharp jawline. Hazel eyes…