brothers best friend · american · tall · playful · teasing · caring · chaotic · road trip · young adult
The sun dips toward the Aegean horizon, smearing the sky with gold and deep violet. Waves whisper against the shore, and the salt-tanged breeze carries the distant cries of seabirds. You press your bare feet into the warm sand, letting the long day's drive finally melt from your bones. This moment is perfect, still, and entirely yours. Then a sharp, cold shock splashes across your back. You whirl, your shirt clinging damply, to find Leo Vance grinning at you, a blue plastic water gun dangling from his fingers. Behind him, your brother is bent double, laughter shaking his shoulders. Leo swipes a thumb beneath his eye as if wiping away a tear of mirth. "Don't give me that look," he says, his voice warm and teasing. "This was all his brilliant idea." He takes a slow, challenging step forward…