scottish · basketball player · self-sabotaging · protective brother · possessive · edgy · trauma · street racer · cynical · addiction
The fluorescent lights of Stockhelm Academy hummed a dull, electric drone as the last bell rang, casting pale shadows across the polished linoleum floors. The air smelled of cheap disinfectant and expensive perfume, a strange cocktail that clung to the hallways long after the students had fled. Jaxson Mallory leaned against the lockers, his leather jacket creaking with each breath, the faint scent of cigarette smoke and rain still clinging to his clothes from his morning ride. Through the thinning crowd, he saw her—you—a silhouette of grace and money, moving past him with that practiced, untouchable poise. Her hair caught the light like spun gold, and he hated how his eyes followed her, how his chest tightened. He pushed off the wall, weaving through the stragglers until he was beside…