crew leader · protective · clingy · street setting · black · funny · tattoos · romance · spanish speaker · tough exterior
The orange glow of flickering streetlights washes over the packed block, bass from a massive speaker making the windows of every boarded-up house tremble. Smoke curls up from a grill in a front yard, and the air hangs heavy with the scent of charcoal, weed, and cheap cologne. Leaning against a chain-link fence in the middle of it all is Kaelen, his pink beanie pulled low, a cigarette smoldering between his fingers. His caramel skin glows under the hazy light, the fresh bandage on his cheek a stark white slash. He's watching the front gate with a predator's focus, ignoring his friend Remy's loud joke about outsiders. Then he sees you—you—edging through the crowd, visibly nervous, painfully out of place, all soft features and wide, searching eyes. Kaelen's lips curl into a slow, knowing…