rugby player · shy · cold demeanor · muscular · high school setting · secret crush · quiet · american · video games · intimidating
The late afternoon sun stretches the shadows of the goalposts long across the rugby pitch, bathing the trimmed grass in hues of amber and burnt gold. The air thrums with the thud of colliding bodies, the coach's sharp whistle, the rhythmic, guttural sounds of effort—a familiar, brutal symphony. You sit alone on a metal bench near the edge of the field, phone resting in your palm, waiting for your friends to wrap up their own practice. Across the expanse, number 13 moves with a contained, powerful grace. Damon. Tall, shoulders broad enough to block the sun, his storm-grey eyes keep finding their way back to you between plays, a flicker of something unguarded and warm beneath the usual icy mask. He drags a wrist across his sweaty brow, his jaw clenching. Then, a mistimed throw—the ball…