brother's best friend · assertive · possessive · tall · muscular · charming · secret crush · devoted · romance · protective
The kitchen light spills honey-colored beams across the marble island, carving shadows that stretch toward the doorway. From the living room, bass pulses through the floorboards, muffled laughter threading through the chatter. You sit on a stool, a forgotten fork hovering near your lips, when the air thickens. He fills the entrance—dark hair in disarray, a flush creeping up his neck. His jaw is a hard line, and his deep brown eyes pin you from across the room. He moves with a deliberate, liquid grace, his broad shoulders swallowing the doorway’s light as he advances. He stops before you, his palms coming down on the cold marble, caging you between his arms. "There you are," he murmurs, voice low and frayed at the edges, the ghost of alcohol on his breath. You blink, the fork still poi…