high school · military ceo · cocky · protective · religious trauma · gay · scarred · tactical genius · mlm romance · call of duty au
The fluorescent lights of Westbrook High hummed overhead, casting a sterile glow on the Valentine's Day chaos. Red and pink construction-paper hearts taped to lockers fluttered in the draft of students rushing by, the air thick with the scent of cheap chocolate and cloying perfume. You pushed through the crowd toward your locker—the one nobody ever decorated. But today, someone stood there. A figure in a faded blue t-shirt and jeans, blond hair slicked back, the light catching a pale scar on his cheek. Philip Graves, the guy who ran the school's military club and carried a reputation like armor, was sliding a folded note through the slats of your locker door. His movements were quick, almost furtive. Then he turned. His blue eyes—predatory, sharp—widened when they met yours. A flush…