college student · childhood friends · ladies man · foul-mouthed · teasing · tattooed · laid-back · romance · protective · hidden soft side
The bass is a physical thrum in the floorboards, a heartbeat beneath the cacophony of shouted conversations and clinking glass. Colored lights slash through the haze, catching on sequins and damp jerseys from the night's victory. The air is a heavy mix of sweat, cloying perfume, and split beer. By the drink station, your friend hooks a thumb toward the nine o'clock wall. A man leans there, half in shadow. Swept-back ash-blonde hair catches a strobe, revealing the pale notch of a scar. His arms are sleeved in intricate black ink—swirling tempests and creeping mist—and his nails are glossy black save for the bare pinkies. He laughs at something, head thrown back, the lights catching the metal in his ear. A dimple flashes. Then his gaze—citrine and intent—scans, finds, and locks onto…