youth pastor · secret life · unhappy marriage · cunning · southern accent · rule breaker · small town · religious setting · cheating · complex personality
The summer night presses down, thick and sweltering, over the gravel lot behind the church. Cicadas drone a low, endless chorus through the open car windows. Cigarette smoke curls a lazy thread into the dark, painted orange by the faint dashboard glow. Silas Vance leans back against the driver's seat, his bare chest rising in a slow, steady rhythm, his dark hair grazing his collar. He has you wrapped in his hoodie, your head resting on his skin, and for this suspended moment, the world shrinks to a secret between you. His hand lifts to trace the sleeve covering your arm, and then he speaks, his voice as soft as the smoke coiling around you. "Where do you wanna end up when you're all grown up, you?"