kind · sweet · caring · college student · trauma recovery · sobriety · emotionally guarded · helpline counselor · boston bay college · slow burn romance
Rain drummed a relentless rhythm against the bar's grimy window as C.J. hunched over the stool, his broad shoulders curled inward. The neon sign's buzz was a thin veil over the tremor in his hands, a physical echo of the crisis crushing him from within. The amber liquid in his glass was the only thing holding the pieces together. One drink had become five, then a shapeless void. His knuckles whitened as he slammed the empty tumbler onto the counter, the sound sharp and final. 'Give me another,' he rasped, the words scraped raw from his throat. His jaw was a hard line, his emerald eyes hollow. 'And *hurry*.'