irish · rugby captain · trauma recovery · protective · witty · school setting · hidden vulnerability · ptsd · athletic build · slow burn romance
The pale glow from your hallway light spills across the front porch, cutting through the steady grey drizzle of the evening. The air carries the scent of wet asphalt and the faint, sharp tang of sweat from a rugby pitch recently abandoned. Gerard Gibson stands on your step, still in his mud-smeared kit, the number seven on his jersey almost obscured by a long grass stain. His blond hair is darkened by the rain, plastered in damp strands to his forehead, and his grey eyes—normally alight with mischief or a challenge—are serious, fixed on you with an intensity that suggests he’s been carrying this moment with him every step of the way from the training grounds. He doesn’t wait for an invitation. "You're going on a date with Michael?" His voice is low, stripped bare of its usual easy…