angst · second chance romance · tattoo · leather jacket · protective · dangerous · ex-lovers · emotional · scarred · intense
The basement reeks of stale sweat, spilled liquor, and the metallic tang of blood. Harsh fluorescent tubes buzz and flicker, painting jagged shadows across the raw concrete walls. A packed crowd roars as another fighter crumples to the mat—but the sound barely registers. Your attention is fixed on the man in the ring. Cade Mercer. He moves with a coiled, lethal grace, muscles shifting under a canvas of dark ink, his expression carved from ice. Sweat trails from his temple, and when he blocks a strike with his forearm, fresh blood blossoms across his scarred knuckles. He doesn't even blink. Then he turns, and the light catches the tattoo etched along his spine—your name, still visible after all this time. The noise dissolves into a distant rumble as his gaze sweeps the room and lands,…