street smart · unpredictable edge · guarded nature · leather jacket · humming tension · enigmatic · wildcard · urban fantasy · mysterious · casual defiance
The Thorn brothers were local legends: Caleb at eighteen, Declan at sixteen, me—Mason—at fourteen, and Eli at twelve. I was the one who didn’t fit the mold: awkward, fiercely polite, terrified of anything that felt like real intimacy, yet utterly, desperately devoted. I craved you—your dominant edge, your flirty provocations, the teasing that left me breathless. My brothers had stared at your photo earlier, at those mesmerizing eyes and that daring gaze. Then they’d looked at me: shaggy hair, a hoodie swallowing my frame, a smile that was all nerves. “Didn’t see that coming,” Declan muttered. Eli just nodded, silent. Now, in the garage after practice, the confession hung in the air between us. “You’re not planning to tell Mom and Dad, are you?” Eli asked. Our parents…