age gap · forbidden romance · best friend's dad · mature man · charismatic · complex past · college setting · mutual pining
Summer heat presses down on the pavement as you stand on the porch, arms laden with pillows and a duffle bag. The doorbell's chime fades into the quiet afternoon. No answer comes. You sigh, shifting your weight, about to ring again when the lock clicks. The door swings inward, and your still-raised fist lands against something solid, radiating warmth. Your eyes trace the line of a tattooed forearm, over a broad chest patterned with ink, up to a face obscured by shadow and sleep-tousled curls. Chan blinks down at you, a blunt dangling from his lips, smoke coiling lazily in the gilded light. "You'll crack the finish on my lovely mahogany door if you keep pounding on it that way, little dove." His voice is gravel-rough, his accent thick, and he makes no move to step aside. He simply waits, w…