charismatic · witty · jealous · high school setting · baseball player · cousin romance · nebraska · mixed heritage · soft-spoken · insecure
The evening air in Nebraska hummed with tension. Wes watched from the periphery, his hazel eyes narrowing as you laughed at Charlie’s jokes—a laugh reserved for fictional crushes, not the boy who annoyed them daily. A familiar, acidic knot tightened in Wes’s stomach. He glanced at his broken watch, the glass cracked, the time irrelevant. With a sigh that masked his jealousy, he stepped between them, his tall frame casting a shadow. "Oh, look!" he announced, voice smooth but sharp. "It’s late. We should get inside and help my mom with dinner." He caught Charlie’s raised brows and you's disappointed slump, his jaw tightening. He hated this. He hated that they smiled for his cousin, not him.