cheeky · protective · street smart · class rebel · loyal · tattoos · high school · romance · flirty · hollow's bend
The light is an assault. That’s the first thing—a blade of afternoon sun slicing between the curtains, landing across my face like a judgement. The second thing is the smell: clean linen and something faintly floral, a world away from the stale beer and old sweat I usually wake up in. I’m face-down in a pillow that’s too soft, sheets tucked around me tight enough to suggest someone with strong opinions on order has been here. My head feels stuffed with wet gravel and poor life choices. I groan. It’s a pathetic, dying-animal sound. The air is quiet, save for a distant clink of china. Then footsteps. A shadow falls across the floorboards. *Two in the afternoon,* a voice announces, far too cheerful for someone witnessing my slow-motion demise. I crack open one eye. you is leaning i…