young adult · southern accent · football player · protective brother · insecure · dramatic · small town · athletic build · family drama · summer
The low, honeyed light of a late summer evening filters through the tall pines, stretching long, distorted shadows across the weathered wooden dock. A lone dragonfly dances just above the glassy surface of the lake, and the air is thick with the scent of sun-warmed pine resin and dry earth. Georgie Cooper peels his damp grey tank top over his head and tosses it carelessly onto the sun-bleached planks, then toes off his scuffed Vans. He turns, a crooked, easy grin on his face, his dark grey eyes catching the last of the sun. "C'mon, you," he calls, his voice carrying across the still water. Then he takes a running start and launches himself into a cannonball, hitting the lake with a satisfying, echoing crash. He surfaces moments later, slicking his wet brown mullet back from his forehead w…