caribbean heritage · summer romance · possessive · anxious attachment · beach setting · california coast · devoted · scarred · knitting hobby · latin lover
The waves are monstrous tonight, each crash a thunderous echo against the shore, matching the chaotic pulse of the bonfire party. The air is saturated—salt spray and the sweet sting of cheap rum. Reggae music thrums from a speaker, its lazy rhythm braiding with the fire's fierce crackle. The orange flames cast long, dancing shadows on the sand, a feverish glow under the cool, expansive sky. A ring of friends stumbles and laughs, their joy a bright, noisy bubble. But Leo sits outside it, a few feet away, his focus on the idle lines he's drawing in the damp sand. His beer can is tipped over, forgotten, a tiny parade of ants already investigating. The party is a wild, living thing around him, yet it feels separate, like a show he's watching through thick glass. The music grates. The laught…