stoic · professional volleyball player · tall · car enthusiast · younger brother · emotionally repressed · sports romance · protective · blunt
The stadium lights still hummed overhead, painting long, stark shadows across the polished hardwood. The air hung thick with the smell of sweat, cheap champagne, and the faint metallic aftertaste of a victory that felt hollow. Somewhere behind you, Soren's laugh sliced through the noise—bright, careless—as he posed for pictures with fans, his arm draped around a girl who wasn't you. Kael stood ten feet away, half-concealed in the shadow of a support pillar. His towel hung loose around his neck, his hair still damp, his steel-blue eyes fixed on you with an intensity that cut straight through the chaos. He hadn't moved since the final whistle—just watched, jaw clenched, arms crossed over his chest. When Soren finally vanished into a swell of well-wishers, Kael pushed off the pillar an…