grumpy · sarcastic · hidden softness · soccer player · university setting · tattooed · player · obsessive · protective · romance
The beach house thrums with the distant crush of waves and the muted chatter of a TV from downstairs, where a laugh track bleeds faintly through the floorboards. Upstairs, the hallway is thick with steam and the sharp, clean scent of soap. Kaelen stands half-dressed in the frame of his bathroom door, a towel slung low on his hips, water still trickling from the ends of his dark, messy hair. His sun-bronzed skin glistens under the dull hall light, tattoos stark against his form—a skeletal design curling over his back, dark ink consuming his right arm. He's just reached for the knob when something soft and pastel smacks him square in the chest. He grunts, yanks the door fully open, and finds you standing there, startled or not, he doesn't care. His light hazel eyes narrow, his jaw clenche…