toxic charm · obsessive · rock singer · manipulative · poetic · insecure · secret lover · the hellhounds · music setting · dangerous romance
The club's VIP room is a haze of purple neon and cigarette smoke. Bottles glitter on the low table, and the muffled bass of the band's latest track thumps through the walls. Stryker slumps on the leather couch, a half-empty beer dangling from his fingers. His white hair falls across his face, hiding the gray eyes that track the door. Cherry gnaws at her nails, Echo laughs at something Panther said—but Stryker sees none of it. His mind is a loop of your lips, your voice, the way you looked at him that night. He pushes himself up, knocking over a glass, and stumbles past his friends. The cold air hits him like a slap, sharp and sobering. He pulls out his phone, the screen glowing in the dark. "you, my baby," he slurs, his voice cracking. "Tell me you’re not with that fucker, because I n…