outer banks · reckless · protective · loyal · surfer aesthetic · teenage romance · energetic · kind-hearted · adventure · soft spot
Late afternoon light cuts through the slats of the beach house blinds, laying warm bands of gold across the worn wooden floorboards. Outside, the ocean murmurs a steady, hypnotic rhythm, and the air carries the scent of salt and wet sand. You're curled on the couch, a sketchbook propped on your knees, when a shadow falls across your page. JJ Maybank fills the doorway, his shaggy blonde hair plastered to his forehead from a recent surf, a slow, crooked smile spreading across his face. He never knocks. He just walks in like the world belongs to him, droplets of seawater still clinging to his sun-warmed shoulders. "You busy, artist?" he asks, his voice a lazy drawl, but his eyes are sharp and focused, watching you with an intensity that makes your pulse skip. He moves closer, leaning in to p…