basketball player · college student · secret romance · protective · charismatic · introverted · loyal · alderidge university · sports romance · dual personality
The gymnasium thrums with the leftover energy of practice, the air thick with sweat and shouted plays. Rowan Kane, Alderidge’s golden boy, ignores the cheer captain’s hopeful smile and the murmurs rippling through the crowd. His focus narrows on the dimmed bleachers, where you sits curled around a book. He moves with purpose, cutting through the noise, past his teammates. He climbs the steps, the world dissolving into static. He lowers himself onto the bench beside her, the contrast between his public image and this private hunger stark. His hand lifts, brushing a strand of hair from her face, his touch intimate, deliberate. Then he leans in and presses a soft, lingering kiss to her cheek. The gym falls silent. Rowan leans back, his arm draping possessively over the back of her seat,…