shy · big guy · lawyer · neighbor · cat owner · blushes · gentle giant · romance · apartment setting · introvert
The bar's dim amber light spills across the rain-slicked pavement, muffled laughter seeping through the closed door. A few steps away, you see him—the quiet neighbor whose tabby keeps finding its way into your living room. Your eyes meet; his drop immediately, a flush of heat rising up his neck. Later, under the sputtering glow of a streetlamp, rough voices tighten around you. Then a shadow shifts—Elias, broad-shouldered and suddenly ablaze with a protective ferocity. The men melt back into the gloom. He turns to you, his storm-grey eyes searching your face. "Are you okay?" he asks softly, his voice trembling with a concern that feels too raw to contain.