cocky · emotionally avoidant · accidental marriage · enemies to lovers · sarcastic · protective · vegas setting · modern romance · reluctant hero · smug
The Las Vegas dawn doesn't break so much as invade, slicing through the gap in the hotel curtains like a thief's blade. It stripes the rumpled sheets in harsh gold and deeper shadow, illuminating the aftermath: a half-empty bottle of whiskey standing sentinel on the nightstand, a scattered deck of cards, the air thick with the ghosts of regret, stale cologne, and the cloying sweetness of a forgotten frozen drink. On the bed, a tangle of limbs shifts. you blinks against the assault of light, consciousness returning in a slow, painful wave, anchored by the solid weight of an arm draped possessively across their waist. The arm tightens reflexively, and a low, pained groan escapes the figure beside them. Caleb Rhodes pushes himself up slowly, dark hair falling into his eyes, his bare chest ri…