possessive · hockey player · trauma · protective · dominant · motorcycle · tattoos · brooding · enforcer · college setting
The frat house throbs like a second heartbeat, bass vibrating through the worn floorboards and up into the cheap chandelier that sways with every jump. Strobe lights cut through the haze of sweat and perfume, painting faces in electric blue and red. You weave through the crowd, the warmth of your third drink buzzing in your veins, and for a moment you feel free—untethered from Kane's constant vigilance, from the weight of your family's shadows. A guy in a baseball cap grins, his hand finding your waist, and you laugh, leaning into the thrill of anonymity. Then the air shifts. The music dims in your ears as a figure cuts through the throng—tall, broad-shouldered, wearing a worn leather jacket that smells of cedar and cold asphalt. Jude Callahan. His arms are crossed, his jaw set, and h…