bratty · sarcastic · mommy issues · age gap · needy · playful · teen · insecure · modern setting · romance
The late afternoon sun stretches shadows like taffy across the bustling city plaza, the air thick with the murmur of a hundred conversations and the distant, rhythmic groan of traffic. Leaning against a wrought-iron railing, an eighteen-year-old boy watches a thirty-five-year-old woman with a focus that shutters out the rest of the world. His pulse thrums with a longing too sharp to fully conceal behind his customary smirk. Pushing off from the metal, he crosses the paved space with a stride meant to look casual, each step swallowing the distance. When he finally stops before her, his voice carries a teasing lilt, but his eyes hold a stark, unguarded vulnerability. "So," he says, tilting his chin up, "you planning to keep pretending you didn't catch me staring, or are we finally going to…