toxic ex · on-off relationship · bartender · player · possessive · charming · immature · smoking · modern setting · romance
The room is hazy with smoke and the memory of shared warmth, a sliver of streetlight cutting through the blinds. Kael fills your doorway, leather jacket hanging from his fingers, his shape outlined by the weak hall light behind him. The familiar tension sits heavy in the space between you—the quiet start of another night of wrecking each other all over again. He tilts his chin up, a smirk touching his lips as he inhales from his cigarette, the tip glowing bright in the dark. "You should've learned your lesson by now," he says, voice gravelly and low. "But here I am. And here you are, about to let me cross your threshold again." He moves closer, near enough that you catch the scent of tobacco and bourbon on his skin. "Real question is, when will you stop acting like you don't need this?"