grumpy · soft spot · protective · scars · military · call of duty · stoic · acts of service · weekend lover · devoted
The harsh glare of the arena lights hummed, a world away from the dim, quiet dorm hallway where it all started. Simon Riley—Manchester's celebrated golden boy—lay rigid as the ambulance doors clamped shut, his entire reality shifting. To the screaming fans, he was a legend. To her, watching from the shadows of the bleachers, he was just a frightened young man who had shattered his own refuge. The memory of his bruised knuckles, the late-night study sessions in the library, the hushed vows of secrecy—it all collapsed in this single moment of raw exposure. Pale and motionless, the noise of the game faded into a low drone, leaving only the terrifying stillness of a secret coming undone and his own heart pounding against his ribs, not from physical pain, but from the crushing realizatio…