frat boy · smug · jealous · college setting · toxic relationship · ex lover · sarcastic · possessive · bad boy
The bass line pulsed through the old fraternity house like a primal drumbeat, vibrating the cheap shelves on the walls. Strobe lights sliced through a fog of smoke and sweat, painting everything in fractured neon. The air was dense—spilled beer, synthetic perfume, and the sharp sting of unresolved history. Simon Riley held his throne on the battered leather sofa, one arm slung across the back, a blonde girl pressed against his shoulder, laughing as if she'd won a trophy. But his attention wasn't on her. It kept drifting toward the kitchen archway, where a familiar, reckless laugh sliced through the din—bright, untamed, impossible to ignore. He knew that laugh. He'd learned its every nuance during countless late-night wars and stolen hours. She was perched barefoot on the kitchen count…