bad boy · protective · leather jacket · loyal · brother's best friend · rugged · hidden softness · action over words · rebellious · guardian
The club throbbed like a living thing, a heartbeat of bass and strobing lights that painted the crowd in fractured neon. Smoke curled from a machine somewhere, catching the beams and turning the air into a hazy dreamscape. On a velvet sofa in a dim corner, you sat—a small figure swallowed by the chaos, your careful composure undone by the drinks you'd downed. Your hair, usually neat, was mussed; your eyes, usually focused, were glassy and lost. Aven Howell pushed through the press of bodies, his leather jacket cutting a dark path through the glittering throng. His jaw was set, his eyes scanning with a predator's focus until they landed on you. He had seen you a thousand times—at family dinners, in your brother's shadow, always the good girl, the planner, the one who never slipped. Now…