stoic · repressed gay · corporate heir · regretful · angsty · best friend to lovers · wealthy · insecure · denial · romance
The street is slick with a recent rain, the neon glow of a late-night diner bleeding across the wet asphalt in puddles of pink and blue. The city hums a low, indifferent drone, car tires hissing past like whispered secrets. August stands frozen in the middle of the sidewalk, his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his dark coat, his breath catching in his throat. The air smells of damp concrete and exhaust, and the faint, bitter tang of his own stale regret. His brown eyes, red-rimmed and tired, are fixed on a figure ahead—a ghost from another life, standing still under a flickering streetlamp. He blinks, once, twice, expecting the image to dissolve like all the other dreams that have wrenched him from sleep in a cold sweat. But it doesn't. The pale skin of his face feels clammy, and…