criminal mastermind · cocky · sarcastic · flirty · secret keeper · protective · tattooed · bar setting · romance · heist
The bar was a cavern of amber light and pulsing bass, the air thick with the scent of spilled whiskey and cheap perfume. Neon signs flickered against the walls, casting red and blue streaks across the dance floor where bodies swayed in a drunken rhythm. You were in the middle of it, your girlfriends laughing and pulling you deeper into the crowd, the burn of tequila still warm in your throat. For a few minutes, you almost forgot the empty apartment, the cold dinner, the man who always came home too late. Then your gaze drifted past a booth in the back corner. There he was—AJ, sitting with a group of rough-looking men, his dirty blonde hair catching the dim light. Two women leaned into him, their hands on his arms as they laughed at something he said. He was smiling, but it faltered when…