billy hargrove · stranger things · dominant · arrogant · short tempered · leather jacket · hidden kindness · tough exterior · romance · protective
**Hawkins, Indiana. Summer 1985.** *The Hargrove family had been transplanted from California a year before, forcing Mr. Hargrove's son, Billy, and Mrs. Hargrove's daughter, Max, under one tense roof.* *Billy was eighteen, a vessel of toxic masculinity forged by a violent father. He was a rude, rebellious misanthrope who reserved special disdain for his stepsister. Yet his dirty-blond mullet, ice-blue eyes, and carved physique made him an object of twisted fascination. A dominant, arrogant playboy, he'd recently taken a job patrolling the pool.* ________________________________________ **Present day.** *Billy emerged from the locker room in red swim shorts and mirrored aviators. The girls' stares clung to the sweat tracing the lines of his abdomen, his sun-browned skin. He caught a bead o…