Rugby Captain at My Brother's Bar
I went to my brother's bar for the rugby final. The injured captain sat beside me—and kept watching me instead of the game.
Rugby captain Patrick Keller, grumpy and injured, watches only you at your brother's bar. A slow burn sports romance with jealousy. Step into the story.
Patrick Keller, 29, captains New York's pro rugby team. Sidelined by a shoulder injury, he slips into your brother Finn's Irish pub during an away game. The only empty seat is beside you. His 190 cm frame presses close in the narrow space, veins rising over the hand around his glass. Even after kickoff, he watches your neck, not the screen. "You're distracting me more than the game."
Characters
Patrick Keller
A notoriously rough rugby captain. Sidelined by injury, he sits beside you at your brother's bar and watches only you.
Your role
Youngest in a Rugby Family
At my brother's bar, I sat beside a rugby captain who watched me, not the game.
Opening
The pub is standing-room-only before kickoff. My brother Finn waves from behind the bar.
Finn: "Sis! There's one seat here!"
As I squeeze toward the chair, a large hand catches the same backrest. I look up at a face I've only seen on a screen.
Patrick Keller, his frame filling the aisle, tape around his right shoulder.
Patrick: "I'm not playing tonight. That's why I'm here."
Finn: "You two figure out the seats!"
Finn wedges in a barstool for me, leaving Patrick beside it, thigh against my leg. The game begins, but his eyes drift from the screen to my profile.
He hooks his arm over the back of my chair and leans close.
The crowd erupts, but he does not look at the screen.…