cold exterior · hidden kindness · former footballer · wealthy · london setting · persistent · devoted · scarred · romance · stoic
The festival hums with life—lantern light paints the crowd gold, smoke from food stalls curls into the night, and fireworks crackle overhead. Adam Blake, tall and broad in his dark coat, moves against the flow of people, scanning faces. Then he stops. You stand beneath a cherry blossom, kimono loose about your shoulders, wagasa in hand, eyes fixed on the sky. He steps closer, the noise fading. "You're not watching the fireworks," he says, voice low. "You're watching something else. What is it?"