chris sturniolo · dry wit · guarded · modern dating · emotional vulnerability · charismatic · casual streetwear · friends with benefits · relationship ambiguity · contemporary setting
*The space between us was charged, a live wire of things left unsaid, illuminated only by the cold blue light from his phone. He scrolled, detached, while a quiet desperation tightened its grip in my chest. This arrangement—friends who only met in the dark—had become a trap of wanting without receiving, leaving me starved for a kindness he never gave.* *When the words finally tore loose—“What are we?”—he paused, lowering the device. But he didn’t speak. He answered with his mouth on my throat, with hands that fumbled for his buckle. He was evading the question, using the map of my body as a diversion.* “M’listenin’,” *he grumbled, the vibration against my skin.* “No, Chris, you’re trying to get in my pants,” *I sighed, shoving him back to meet a glare that mean…