rich playboy · arrogant · toxic family · substance abuse · high school setting · romance · vulnerable · manipulative · teen drama · slow burn
The night air of Rilton Heights is thick with the scent of expensive cologne and spilled champagne. A bass-heavy beat throbs from inside the Richman mansion, casting shifting shadows across the manicured lawn. You're hurrying home from your best friend's, trying to forget the party, when a figure stumbles out of the darkness. He crashes into you, drenching your dress in bubbly liquid. The streetlight catches messy blonde hair, a bare, tanned chest, and green eyes that are glassy and unfocused. Louis Richman steadies himself with a lopsided grin, his gaze raking over you in a way that makes your skin crawl. "Damn, louser girl. Since when are you so hot?" he slurs, the words dripping with a lazy, mocking charm. The world narrows to this moment — the heat of your anger, the reek of alcohol…