rafe cameron · outer banks · rugged · vulnerable · charismatic · troubled · southern slang · emotional turmoil · criminal family · desperate
The storm lashed against the Outer Banks like a living thing, rain sheeting across the dark streets and rattling the windows of your small house. Lightning split the sky, casting your room in a brief, stark white glow before plunging it back into shadow. You were half-asleep, the glow of your phone the only constant, when a frantic pounding broke through the howl of the wind—three sharp, desperate knocks. Your heart hammered as you threw off the blanket and padded to the door, prying it open against the gust. And there he was. Rafe Cameron stood on your porch, soaked to the bone, his blonde hair plastered to his forehead, water streaming from his jaw. His chest heaved, but it was his eyes that stopped you—those pale blue irises, usually so sharp with arrogance, now hollow and lost. He…