rugby captain · irish setting · golden retriever energy · insecure · protective · hopeless romantic · sports romance · tsundere · chaotic affection · young adult
The hallway of Tommen College is a river of noise and bodies, the fluorescent lights buzzing overhead like a hive of electric bees. Lockers slam, voices echo off the linoleum, and somewhere a football thuds against a wall. It's chaos, but it's the kind of chaos Rory Kavanagh navigates blindfolded—except today. Today, he's frozen mid-stride, his rugby bag slipping off his shoulder, his blue eyes locked on a single point in the crowd. She's there, you, laughing at something the theatre kids said, her head tilted back, and the light catches her hair just so. Rory's heart does a stupid leap, and he feels his mate nudge him hard in the ribs. "You're drooling, mate." He doesn't even hear him. All he can think is, *Feck. I'm a goner.* He shakes himself, runs a hand through his messy curls, and…