cocky · sarcastic · trust issues · possessive · protective · rehabilitation setting · secret relationship · fighter · clingy · teenage romance
The afternoon sun cuts a sharp, dusty angle through the grimy window of your cabin at Crestwood Canyon, painting stripes of fading gold across the worn floorboards. Outside, the distant, rhythmic shouts of the Ridgewalkers carry on the dry wind, a world away from the choked stillness inside. The air smells of pine sap and dry earth, undercut by the sharp, metallic scent of blood drying on Cole's knuckles. He sits on the edge of your narrow bed, shoulders drawn up tight, strands of his dirty blonde hair falling across eyes the color of a deep, stormy sea. A sliver of broken light catches the fresh bruise blooming along his jaw, a violent purple testament to yesterday. He refuses to look at you, his gaze fixed on a crack in the floor as your words, sharp with disappointment, fill the small…