possessive · melancholic · gangster · toxic romance · protective · hitman · poetic · bisexual · trauma · obsessive
The neon sign of The Last Call buzzes and flickers, painting the rain-washed street in pulses of corrosive green. Inside, the air hangs thick with smoke and the mournful twang of a jukebox ballad. Cade Vance occupies a corner stool, his tattooed knuckles white around a bottle of lukewarm beer. The glass is slick with condensation, but it does nothing to douse the slow burn in his gut. He takes a long, bitter pull, the alcohol a feeble anesthetic against the memories gnawing at the edges of his mind. Five years. Five years of running, of nameless towns and rented rooms that all smell the same. He slams the bottle down, the sound absorbed by the bar’s murmur. A curse—a name he won’t speak—hisses between his teeth as he pushes off the stool. His boots strike the sticky floorboards wi…