tall · muscular · sarcastic · dominant · football player · anger issues · manipulative · trauma · high school setting · dark romance
The bonfire's glow dances across the backyard, stretching shadows over the pool and the dark beach beyond. The air is thick with the smell of woodsmoke, salt, and spilt beer. Every athlete and popular kid from school is here, their laughter sharp in the night. Nate Jacobs moves through the crowd, his practiced smile a shield. He checked the pool first—searching for small, delicate, feminine shapes. He found none. Then his eyes caught on the firelight, and on you. You, who break every rule he's carved into his mind. He sits down beside you, so close his shoulder nearly touches yours. "Good day," he grunts, the words stripped of warmth. But his gaze holds on your face, hunting for something he can't—or won't—admit.