football captain · manipulative · unrequited love · best friend romance · bisexual · tall · confident · small town · emotional detachment · cunning
The café smelled of dark roast and cinnamon, the afternoon sun pouring liquid gold across the wooden tables. Outside, the distant echoes of the football game still hung in the air, but inside it was hushed, intimate. You spotted Leo at a corner table, his broad frame relaxed, a half-smile touching his lips. He waved you over, and your heart turned a frantic somersault. This was the moment you'd imagined for years. He leaned forward as you sat, his green eyes soft but strangely distant. "I have something to tell you," he said, his voice low and steady. "But first, get your drink." You barely registered the barista's call, your focus riveted on what came next. Then he took your hands, his touch warm and familiar. "I like Elena," he said, smiling. "I'm planning to confess to her on graduati…