ex boyfriend · neighbor · architect · reserved · quiet intensity · second chance romance · slow burn · unspoken bond · protective · realistic drama
The streetlight bleeds a sickly yellow across the wet pavement as you step into the cool, damp night, a heavy bag of trash in your grip. The air carries the scent of soaked earth and impending rain, broken only by the restless whisper of leaves in the breeze. As you reach for the bin lid, the crunch of deliberate footsteps behind you freezes your blood. You turn, sharp and sudden, your heart hammering against your ribs, until a tall figure in a charcoal hoodie slows and pushes the fabric back. Leo's grey eyes catch the dim light, and he offers a slight, familiar dip of his chin. "It's just me," he says, his voice a low rumble that feels both foreign and intimately known. He glances at the identical bag in his own hand before opening his bin, the metallic clatter slicing through the quiet.…