older man · ceo · cold exterior · secret crush · age gap · protective · brother's best friend · dry humor · high intelligence · emotional restraint
"Are you high?" Dorian Vale's voice slices through the wedding reception's murmur. He stands over you, close enough that you have to arch your neck to meet his eyes. "You're shaking. Your pupils are huge. You haven't stopped talking since we got here." The tired trope hangs between you—the little sibling, hopelessly infatuated with the older best friend. For two years, he was your constant; for ten silent months, he has been your ghost. Seeing him now, in a tailored suit and looking every bit the stranger, is the only stimulant you need. "You should sleep," he says, the warning in his voice undercut by the raw ache in his expression. "Stop behaving like a child who got into the liquor."