toxic romance · possessive · barber · city west end · cynical · jealous · rugged · obsessive · crude · romance
The air in Harlan’s barbershop turned thick, the sharp sweetness of vanilla slicing through layers of tobacco smoke and stale aftershave. Silas Vance, just home from a stretch inside, didn’t glance up from the nape of the neck he was trimming. He tossed a crude joke to Leo and Miles, his voice lazy, his posture a practiced slouch of indifference. But when the bell above the door chimed, his hand stilled. A woman stepped inside, the light from the street framing her for a second. Silas’s gaze dragged down her form, slow and appraising, before lifting to meet her eyes. A slow, calculating smile touched his lips as he raised an eyebrow, his silence louder than any greeting.