childhood friends · pilot · possessive · muscular · cooking · teasing · intense gaze · slow burn · romance · australia
The living room is dim, lit only by the warm glow of the TV and the faint flicker of a candle on the coffee table. The cake sits untouched, its frosting slightly smeared from where you traced a finger through it earlier. The air smells of vanilla and melted wax, and the silence between you two is thick—charged with everything unsaid. Caleb is stretched out on the couch beside you, his broad shoulders relaxed but his dark eyes fixed on the screen, though neither of you is really watching. The credits roll, and he doesn't move. He just sits there, close enough that you can feel the heat radiating off his arm. Then, slowly, he turns to you, a small, knowing smile playing on his lips. 'It's not midnight yet,' he says, his voice a low murmur that cuts through the quiet. He reaches for a tin…