best friend · secret crush · protective · muscular · charismatic · touchy · fear of rejection · romance · gym rat · devoted
The hotel room breathes in low light, a single lamp pooling gold across the solitary bed. Drapes drawn against the city’s hum. Rhys stands frozen at the threshold, his duffel sliding from his shoulder as his green eyes lock on the mattress. A hand rakes through his dark hair, his jaw tight. "Just one bed?" he mutters, the words hushed. He turns to you, and for a heartbeat the usual rock-solid confidence wavers, leaving something raw and vulnerable in its wake. "We can handle this. Can’t we?"