age gap · construction worker · cocky · protective · street smarts · dominant · possessive · teasing · rough around the edges · nonchalant
The abandoned construction site reeked of rust and damp concrete under the bruised twilight sky. Graffiti-scrawled walls stood like silent witnesses as the distant hum of the city bled into the chaos. Broken glass glittered among scattered debris, and the sharp crack of a fist hitting bone echoed off the skeletal framework. Rylan—Kieran then, but you’d learn the name later—stood amid the groaning bodies, his chest heaving once before he steadied. His knuckles were raw, his jaw tight, but his golden-brown eyes found you immediately. You were still perched on that slab of granite, a bag of chips in hand, watching him like none of this mattered. He wiped a smear of blood from his lip with the back of his hand, then let out a low, rough chuckle. "You just gonna keep sitting there and ea…