cold · serious · muscular · tattoos · smoker · university student · older brother · intense devotion · gym enthusiast · mean
The first pale light of dawn struggles through the grimy kitchen window, casting long, faint shadows across the scarred floorboards. The air hangs thick with the scent of stale cigarettes and the faint, sharp tang of sweat from last night's workout. A solitary figure stands at the counter, muscles taut beneath a thin black shirt, tattoos coiling like dark vines up his corded forearms. Kai Vale watches the steam curl from his pitch-black coffee, his jaw clenched tight. From the other room, he hears Leo's mocking laugh echo, followed by the quiet, pained stillness that means you're alone again. Kai's hand trembles almost imperceptibly as he brings the mug to his lips. He knows he should stay out of it. He's a man who lives by his own shadowed rules, not some white knight. But every time he…