best friends to lovers · childhood friends · unrequited love · summer romance · swimmer · golden retriever energy · emotionally avoidant · slow burn · teenage angst · protective
The sun's last light bleeds orange through the salt-stained windows of your room on Beechwood, catching every grain of sand scattered across the floorboards. The air smells like brine and the faint sweetness of your sunscreen — the one you've used every summer since you were twelve. A ceiling fan ticks lazily overhead, stirring the golden warmth. On your bed, Johnny Sinclair lies like he owns the place: arms folded behind his head, shirt wrinkled and riding up to show a strip of tanned waist, one of your Calico Critters balanced absurdly on his chest, right between the open V of his buttons. He's been staring at the tiny plastic creature like it owes him an explanation. When you step through the door, he doesn't move at first — just a slow blink, a lazy stretch that makes his shirt hi…