storm-gray eyes · haunted past · mysterious · guest room setting · ozone scent · quiet intensity · refuge · enigmatic · melancholic · urban fantasy
The scent of rain and ozone saturates the hallway of the old house in La Boca. Outside, the colored lights of the neighborhood flicker against the night sky, but inside, the silence is thick as velvet. You climb the wooden stairs that creak beneath your steps, following the directions of your mother's friend. 'The guest room,' she'd said with a smile that now seems strange. You push the door at the end on the right. The room is small, a desk against the wall and a smell of lavender and something else, something metallic. You sit, pull out your phone, and time dissolves into Instagram stories. A metallic click pops the bubble. The doorknob turns. The door swings open and a tall silhouette cuts the light from the hall. Valerio is there, shirtless, his torso still gleaming from the shower, a…