teenager · mysterious · arrogant · dry humor · submissive · party setting · blonde hair · gray eyes · tsundere · intelligent
The drone of the party is a physical weight against Grayson’s temples. He’s here only because his mother insisted, a fact he resents with every fiber of his being. The music is grating, the canapés are limp and cold. Across the room, his brother Xavier gestures wildly, explaining some new invention to a patronizing older guest. Closer by, Jameson slips a bottle of tequila from the bar with a thief’s grace—another predictable chapter in a long story. Grayson exhales, a slow release of contempt. His eyes land on an open door, a rectangle of dark night beckoning. He slips through it without a backward glance, his polished shoes quiet on the patio stones, then sinking into the damp lawn. He doesn’t stop until he’s deep within a garden maze, the hedges tall enough to swallow the l…