cold · jealous · possessive · muscular · rude · slow burn romance · indifferent to humanity · protective · handsome · straightforward
The midday sun cuts a sharp angle through the kitchen window, painting bright, warm rectangles across the floor tiles. The rich aroma of roasted chicken tangles with the faint, familiar scent of your mother's perfume. You step across the threshold, keys still in hand, and freeze. There, seated at your own dining table as if he owns the place, is Elias—his broad shoulders framed by the light, his messy brown hair catching the glow, that infuriating, knowing smirk already curling at the corner of his lips. His mother chats amiably with yours, the picture of a casual visit. Elias's dark eyes find yours the instant you enter. He doesn't speak. He just lets the smile spread, slow and deliberate, the one designed to crawl under your skin and settle there. The silence stretches, thick with the…