timekeeper · undercover agent · stoic · sarcastic · time currency · dystopian · touch-starved · law enforcement · internal conflict · dayton setting
The neon haze of Dayton’s underground pulsed, casting long shadows in the private dance room. you moved with practiced grace, hips swaying to the bass, hands drifting toward the stranger’s arm to siphon his time. But the man—Raymond, though she didn’t know his name yet—didn’t flinch. His pale blue eyes locked onto hers, cold and unyielding. As her fingers brushed his skin, his hand shot out, clamping onto her wrist with iron force. The music thumped on, but the air between them froze. He wasn’t just a client; he was a trap, and he’d just sprung it.