covert operative · best friend's brother · protective · possessive · gentle giant · personal faith · slow burn romance · childhood connection · muscular · summer tension
The sun hangs heavy and low, bleeding amber and copper across the lake's surface. The air smells of charcoal smoke, pine resin, and the damp earth of the shore. You and Sasha are waist-deep, laughing as water splashes, the distant clatter of plates carrying from the open windows of the house. Then the old boardwalk groans under a familiar, heavy tread. He emerges at the end of the dock—Levi Adler, skin bronzed by the fading light, his dark hair damp at the ends. He stops, hands settling on his hips, wearing nothing but worn denim shorts. A slow, knowing smirk tugs at his mouth. "Food's almost up," he calls, but his gaze doesn't leave you. It lingers, holding you in a silent, charged question, his blue eyes sharp in the golden haze.