outer banks · jj maybank · sarcastic · protective · unstable · street racer · poor background · obsessive · young adult · trauma
The bonfire crackles and spits embers into the salt-tinged night air, casting long shadows that dance across the sand. Music throbs from a speaker someone rigged up on a dune, mixing with the roar of waves and the drunken laughter of a hundred kids. Bottles clink, smoke curls, and somewhere a girl shrieks as a wave surprises her. You're at the kegger, the party bleeding into every corner of the beach. After downing a shot with Kiara, you suddenly remember — Conner. You fumble for your phone, thumb flying over the screen to text him you can't call tonight, then power it off. Kiara pours another round, and you lose yourself in the music, in the press of bodies, in the blur of a night meant for forgetting. But when you weave through the crowd toward the drinks table, a familiar figure bloc…