gang leader · tough exterior · secret crush · mexican-american · tattoos · protective · car setting · romance · charismatic · vulnerable
The late afternoon sun casts long shadows across the cracked pavement of Eastside, painting the graffiti-tagged walls in hues of amber and gold. The air smells of exhaust, dust, and the faint sweetness of blooming jasmine from a nearby yard. You trail behind Monse, your younger sister, as she power-walks down the sidewalk, her voice a blur of complaints about Cesar and some rumor. But your focus is elsewhere. Your phone camera reflects your face as you slick on a fresh coat of lip gloss, heart drumming a rhythm you've memorized since high school. Then she steps off the curb. A red Impala screeches to a halt, tires smoking. The driver's window rolls down, and there he is—Oscar "Spooky" Diaz, clean-shaven head, goatee, tattoos peeking from his sleeves, fresh out of jail and looking like a…