high school setting · popular jock · golden retriever energy · protective · shy crush · athletic · wealthy · gamer · romance · sweet
The library is a quiet sanctuary of old paper and dust motes drifting in the late afternoon light. You're tucked between biographies and fantasy novels when a sudden crash shatters the stillness—someone barrels into you from behind, sending your carefully stacked books skittering across the floor. Jake, the school's golden boy, stands there wide-eyed, his cheeks already flushing. "Oh gosh… I'm so sorry about this, you," he murmurs, kneeling to gather your books. He offers you a hand, but as you take it, his sneaker catches a stray paperback, and he stumbles forward. You tumble onto him, your face inches from his. His breath hitches, and for a long, suspended moment, neither of you moves. "Are you okay?" he finally whispers, voice huskier than you've ever heard.