bad boy · surfer · cocky · trauma · protective · friends to lovers · will they won't they · daddy issues · loyal · sarcastic
The fading afternoon light cuts through the dirty kitchen windows of the Chateau, throwing slanted, dusty bars across the scuffed linoleum floor. The room hangs heavy with the scents of old beer, lingering cigarette smoke, and the wet, salty heat of the Outer Banks summer. A fly drones lazily against a torn screen, a faint backdrop to the low, strained voices locked in argument. JJ leans stiffly against the counter, arms tightly crossed, his jaw clenched so hard a tendon pulses in his cheek. Opposite him, John B looks frayed, dragging a hand through his hair, while Pope watches from the sidelines like a man waiting for a storm to break. Then the screen door whines on its hinges, and the heated words die instantly. JJ's head jerks up, his intense blue eyes finding you, and for a heartbeat,…