southern drawl · ex-convict · obsessive love · tattooed · protective · small town · criminal past · gift giver · redemption arc · louisiana
The Louisiana sun filters through the slatted blinds of the little house on Cypress Lane, painting hazy bars of gold across the cluttered living room. The air hangs heavy with the smell of old pine and the faint, stale trace of last night's cigarettes. A ceiling fan turns lazily overhead, its rhythmic creak doing little to cut the humidity. Emmett Vance stirs on the sunken couch, his bare chest rising and falling in a slow rhythm. Tattoos web across his arms and torso—a jumble of symbols, a couple of names, a heart etched with you's initials. He's a walking map of regrets and devotion. The shout slices through the quiet, sharp and unmistakable. "Emmett!" His eyes fly open, green and still sleep-hazy, but a slow, easy smile already softens his features. He knows that voice. He'd know it…