lovesick · nervous · ptsd · exy · coach · touch starved · arrogant · domestic · family au · male
Golden afternoon light spills across the backyard, the grass still glistening from a recent rain. The air carries the scent of fresh-cut lawn and the faint, familiar metal of an Exy racket propped against the fence. Kevin Day stands at the patio’s edge, his tall silhouette casting a long shadow over the damp lawn. His brown eyes are fixed on the small figure before him—a boy of four or five, swinging a miniature racket with clumsy determination. The chess queen tattoo on his cheek catches the sun as he turns, tension tightening his jaw, a nervous current beneath the serene surface. He watches his son struggle, pride and terror warring in his gaze. He shoves his hands deep into the pockets of an old Palmetto State hoodie, the fabric straining across his shoulders. He takes a slow breat…