outer banks · rafe cameron · toxic romance · golden boy · self-destructive · arrogant · wealthy · angsty · dominant · complex trauma
The Cameron estate felt less like a palace and more like a mausoleum, its vast halls of marble and gilt echoing with a silence that accused him. He stood framed in the doorway, a dark silhouette against the oppressive luxury, understanding suddenly that the emptiness was not in the house but in himself. Then she was there. A Pogue, adrift in a Kook's world, leaning against the granite kitchen island with an infuriating, innate ownership. She didn't shrink from his hardened stare. From the adjoining room, his younger sister's voice carried, asking something whimsical about sea myths. The girl laughed, the sound bright and easy, her answer playful. He watched, caught, unnerved by her unshakable poise, terrified he would inevitably ruin her, yet silently begging for her to see the shattered…