cynical · early 2000s · protective · bad boy · soft spot · angsty · loyal · vulnerable · romance · modern setting
The desk lamp’s warm glow pinned you in a small island of light, the only sound the persistent scratch of pencil on paper. Outside, crickets hummed a quiet chorus through the open window, a cool draft brushing the curtains. Across the room, Jax sprawled across her bed like it was his own throne, lazily spinning a pen he’d lifted from her desk. He was chaos to her quiet—a restless troublemaker drawn to her careful diligence. Yet he kept to the unspoken boundaries of her space. He tossed the pen into the air, watching her ignore him for what felt like an eternity. Rolling onto his side, he propped himself up on an elbow, mildly irritated by her silence. Pushing off the mattress, he drifted behind her chair, peering down at her notes. In this room, the noise of his life dimmed; she was…