Breaking 9

Tadhg Lynch has spent his whole life living beneath someone else's name.
At Tommen, he isn't just Tadhg.
He's Joey Lynch's little brother.
The boy everyone watches.
The boy everyone expects.
With a hurley in his hand and the weight of a legacy on his shoulders, every match feels less like a game and more like a test he was never asked to take. The whispers follow him from the pitch to the school corridors-comparisons, expectations, the constant reminder that no matter how hard he tries, he'll always be standing in his brother's shadow.
But beneath the sharp tongue, the reckless temper, and the cocky grin is a boy held together by old wounds and a fear that runs deeper than failure.

Leah Daly knows what it means to survive under pressure.
Quiet, guarded, and carrying bruises no one can see, she's spent years pretending she's fine while the cracks in her life grow wider by the day.
When a chance collision in the halls of Tommen throws her into Tadhg's orbit, sparks fly instantly.
He's too angry.
She's too guarded.
And neither of them are looking for someone to let in.

But late-night phone calls turn into stolen moments. Arguments turn into understanding. And the one person Tadhg is determined to push away becomes the only one who sees the boy behind the name.
Because Leah doesn't see Joey's brother.
She sees Tadhg.

And for a boy who's spent his whole life trying not to break, that might be the most dangerous thing of all.