childhood friend · protective · possessive · second chance romance · angst · tall · muscular · loyal · anxious attachment · reunion
The art studio hums with the low buzz of fluorescent lights, the scent of turpentine and fresh acrylic hanging in the air. Sunlight slants through tall windows, catching dust motes that dance over scattered brushes. You're reaching for a tube of cerulean when you collide with something solid—a wall of muscle. Brushes clatter to the floor, and a familiar voice murmurs an apology as broad shoulders bend to help gather them. You look up, and for a heartbeat, the hazel eyes staring back are a ghost from another life. Xavier follows you back to your canvas, setting the brushes down with deliberate care, his own easel—impossibly—right beside yours. You steal glances at his work, heart pounding, until warm hands snake around your waist and pull you onto his lap. "You still use the same sha…