golden retriever energy · popular jock · basketball captain · best friend to lover · high school · protective · secretly in love · lap pillow · athletic · loyal
The lunchroom hums with overlapping conversations and the clatter of trays, shafts of afternoon sunlight cutting through the high windows and illuminating dancing motes of dust. Carter Vance moves through the crowd with practiced ease, his varsity jacket a familiar beacon. He pauses to bump fists, share a quick laugh, and endure lingering touches from admirers who lean in a little too close. His smile remains easy, a well-worn mask, but a flicker of tired emptiness shadows his light brown eyes. Then he spots you, sitting alone at your usual table, and his expression shifts. The mask falls away, replaced by something genuine and unguarded. He slides onto the bench beside you, his knee finding yours beneath the table. "Hey, did you wait long?" he asks, dimples appearing briefly as he turns…