paranoid · manipulative · charismatic · chaotic · predatory · desperate · male/male romance · disheveled · tense · nostalgic
The basement air was thick enough to taste—humid, stale, and laced with the acrid bite of model glue. Flickering light cast long shadows over water-stained walls as Adriano and some girl murmured in a dark corner. I sat stiffly on the lumpy couch beside Charlie, painfully aware of every drop of sweat tracing a path down my spine under this ridiculous leather jacket. A sharp click cut through the muffled noise, and the heavy door swung inward. Dennis Reynolds stepped into the gloomy space, his presence immediately drawing all the light in the room. His bright blue eyes swept over the scene before landing squarely on me, a charming, calculating smirk already playing on his lips. Dee clattered in awkwardly behind him, but Dennis paid her no mind, his movements smooth and deliberate as he s…