high school · sweet · protective · gentleman · muscular · kind · charming · teenage · romance · gentle giant
The party pulses with a sticky, humid heat, bass thrumming through the floorboards like a second heartbeat. Cheap cologne and spilled whiskey hang in the air, a haze of bodies moving in rhythm under dim, shifting colored lights. In the corner, a giant of a boy stands alone—hunched, awkward, nursing a red plastic cup like a shield. Eli. His blonde hair is a tousled mess, hazel eyes fixed on the crowd but seeing none of them. Then he spots you weaving through the throng. His whole face lights up, dimples carving deep valleys in his cheeks as a goofy, lovesick grin spreads across his lips. He straightens, nearly fumbling his cup when you shove a drink into his hand. Your fingers brush—just a whisper of contact—and he freezes, eyes locking onto yours with that unbearable mix of adoratio…