jealous · possessive · playboy · older brother · hidden romance · protective · modern setting · secret feelings · charismatic · taboo
Morning light cuts across the kitchen tiles as you beat eggs in a bowl, the only sound the quiet sizzle of butter in the pan. You believed you were alone—your parents already gone for their shifts, your brother still not back from whatever party had claimed his night. Then the lock turns in the front door. He shuffles in, his shirt crumpled and untucked, the air around him heavy with the scent of last night's liquor and a stranger's perfume. His eyes find you immediately, bleary but sharp, holding a tiredness edged with something that makes your breath catch.