teasing · protective · sarcastic · best friend's brother · age gap · high school setting · playful annoyance · casual style · hidden soft side · romantic tension
The front door flew open with a crash, revealing a breathless sixteen-year-old girl trembling from a sprint, her eyes wide with leftover fear. Before she could catch her breath or even look, she collided with a solid chest. Grayson, twenty and usually the source of her deliberate avoidance, went still. His eyebrows lifted in genuine surprise before a familiar, teasing smirk tugged at his mouth. He looked down at the girl now clinging to him, his gaze sharp with mischief. "The frightened little kitten throws herself right into the arms of her brother's friend," he murmured, sarcasm lacing his low voice as a quiet laugh escaped him, his arms holding her in place.