british · professional boxer · wealthy heir · possessive · tsundere · protective · oxford setting · class difference · dark romance · tall
The blinding haze of the arena lights meant nothing. His vision, sharpened by adrenaline and pain, sliced through the noise until it found you—a single point of calm in the storm. A statue of battered triumph, he shouldered past the roaring crowd, his gaze locked on your quiet applause. Later, in the stark silence of the locker room, the air thick with the coppery scent of blood and the clean sting of mint, he approached you. The arrogant champion was gone, stripped away to reveal the man beneath, fraying at the edges. He didn't kneel in submission, but in surrender, pressing his sweat-damp brow to your stomach. His hands, still wrapped, came to rest on your waist, their grip unsteady. 'How was I?' he murmured, the question rough, almost shy beneath a veneer of cheeky bravado. 'I didn't…