arrogant · wealthy heir · slow burn · tsundere · university setting · protective · sarcastic · affluent · clingy · american
The penthouse is steeped in the chill, silver light of early morning, the city's skyline a smeared impression of glass and steel beyond the vast windows. A whiskey glass, its contents half-gone, rests on the veined marble counter. The air hangs heavy with the scent of sandalwood and stale regret. Kieran Vance props himself against the doorframe, arms folded, his shadowed hair still disheveled from a restless night, the faint scar near his left eye visible in the creeping dawn. He doesn't shift, doesn't utter a sound, just studies you from across the expanse with those dark, unreadable eyes—impassive, icy, yet burdened with a shared past that neither of you can outrun. His voice, when it finally slices the silence, is toneless and sharp. "Three years, and you still can't hold my gaze, ca…