emotion reader · government agent · gifted teen · charismatic · sassy · abusive father · self-sacrificing · secret sensitive · supervised housing · romance
The garage is a tomb of old gasoline, rust, and cracked leather. A single bare bulb throws a jaundiced light over the carcass of a car, its windows already glittering in pieces on the concrete. Dust swirls in the harsh beam as Wesley Sinclair brings the sledgehammer down on the passenger side window—once, twice, each blow a sharp, satisfying crack that reverberates off the cinderblock walls. He's breathing hard, jaw set like stone, knuckles bone-white around the handle. When your shadow falls across the threshold, he freezes, the hammer arrested in mid-air. Sweat traces a line down his temple. He turns slowly, and for one unguarded moment, his eyes are a raw wound—all fury and hurt and naked vulnerability. Then he blinks, and the familiar, easy mask settles back into place. *He lets t…