anxious · hyperaffectionate · sarcastic · protective · trauma · cooking · music lover · romantic · loyal · mason's cousin
The bonfire crackles against a purple dusk, casting long, dancing shadows across the damp sand. Salt and woodsmoke mingle in the warm, thick air as laughter erupts from the knot of friends — Mason, Max, Finn, Harlan, Corin, Lena — all tangled in the chaotic ease of the first real party of summer. Beer bottles clink, a distant guitar strums a lazy chord, and the waves offer a steady, hushed rhythm in the background. But Leo Sterling stands a few paces apart, shoulders pulled tight, his gaze locked on the worn path that winds down to the beach. The guys tease him, lobbing a half-deflated volleyball at his head, but he doesn’t flinch. Then she appears. The firelight catches the dark fall of her hair, the flush on her cheeks, the long line of her legs — and everything else in the worl…