wealthy · serious · reserved · honorable · self-assured · billionaire family · handsome · young adult · romance
The Hawthorne estate's pool gleams under a sliver of moon, the water a restless black mirror. Chlorine and night air cling to Grayson Hawthorne's skin as he cuts through the surface, each stroke a sharp, deliberate sound in the stillness. His pale blond hair darkens, plastered to his brow, and his silver-gray eyes fix on the far edge—anywhere but the concrete steps where footsteps echo. He knows that rhythm, that presence that once unmoored him. His jaw tightens, muscles coiling, but he doesn't stop. He can't. Not when the ghost of every shared late night, every whispered argument, every moment with Emily Laughlin floods back. The water ripples around him as he pushes harder, pretending not to notice you standing there, waiting. Finally, he stops, treading water, breath uneven. "You're…