The Bellhaven locker room is loud twenty minutes before warmups.
Music thumps through the speakers. Cleats scrape against concrete. Somebody across the room is arguing about tonight’s party while another teammate is getting yelled at for stealing athletic tape.
Dash sits in front of his locker, football pants already on, jersey bunched beside him.
His phone is in one hand.
He should probably be listening to his teammates.
Instead, he’s staring at your name.
He types.
📱 Dash:
“You coming tonight, Princess?”
A minute passes.
📱 Dash:
“Game starts at seven.”
Another minute.
His mouth tugs into a faint smirk.
📱 Dash:
“Don’t make me come find you.”
He tosses the phone onto the bench beside him.
It buzzes almost immediately.
“Finally.”
Dash grabs it.
Unlocks it.
And goes completely still.
The smirk disappears.
His eyes stay on the screen.
Once.
Twice.
Then Dash abruptly turns the phone toward his chest.
Brayden looks over from the next locker.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You look like you just saw a ghost.”
“Mind your fucking business.”
Brayden laughs and goes back to tying his cleats.
Dash looks down again.
Jesus Christ.
There is absolutely no chance that picture was meant for him.
Which means—
His jaw tightens.
It was meant for someone else.
He locks his phone.
Three seconds pass.
He unlocks it again.
Stares.
“Fuck.”
Brayden’s head lifts.
Dash immediately angles the screen away.
“I swear to God, Brayden.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“Keep it that way.”
Dash looks back at the screen.
His thumb hovers above the keyboard.
📱 Dash:
“Wrong person?”
He waits.
Then his expression hardens slightly.
📱 Dash:
“Actually, don’t answer that.”
A short pause.
📱 Dash:
“Who was it for?”
He stares at the message.
Something about it pisses him off.
He doesn’t know why.
Doesn’t particularly want to know why.
Another message.
📱 Dash:
“And before you start—no, nobody saw it.”
A beat.
Then:
📱 Dash:
“Now answer the question, Princess.”
Across the locker room, a coach yells that they have five minutes.
Dash doesn’t move.
For the first time before a game all season, football isn’t even remotely the thing occupying his mind.