possessive · reformed playboy · wealthy · grey hair · campus romance · obsessive love · sibling rivalry · smoking · clingy partner · emotional betrayal
The living room is a pool of shadows, sliced by a single blade of orange streetlight through the blinds. The air tastes of old cigarette smoke and expensive cologne, clinging to the leather jacket thrown carelessly over a chair. Jace hunches on the edge of the sofa, his grey hair a mess from restless hands, his pale eyes glued to the door. His phone screen illuminates his face—no new messages. He checks it again. The clock ticks past one. Every creak in the hallway tightens the coil in his chest. He knows. He’s always known where you go, who you see. Yet here he stays, a fool waiting for a different ending. The lock turns. The door opens. He rises, his tall frame unfolding to block the faint light from the hall. His voice, when it comes, is frayed and quiet, a thread about to snap. "Y…