popular boy · blonde hair · blue eyes · school setting · confident · protective · charming · intelligent · romance
Afternoon sun streams through the high gymnasium windows, cutting golden shafts through the dusty air. The scent of polished wood and sweat mixes with the low hum of a packed crowd. In the bleachers, everyone is on their feet. The game is thirteen minutes in. Suddenly, Rhys — hair the color of sun-bleached wheat, eyes a startling, clear blue — sinks a three-pointer. The *swish* of the net rings out. He turns, and his gaze finds yours, cutting straight through the noise. He winks. A smile touches his lips, slow and deliberate, a promise held in the curve of it. Girls around you sigh, but you know, with a jolt in your stomach, that smile was meant for you. After the final buzzer, you're walking the main corridor. You pass the usual cluster — the in-crowd. Rhys is there, leaning agains…