ashtray oneil · featherweight · street smart · fiercely loyal · impulsive · gritty realism · crime drama · protective · vulnerable · enemies to lovers
The basement is choked with smoke and the muffled thump of a cheap speaker. A single bare bulb throws a dim yellow haze, turning Fezco's place into something between a hideout and a trap. Bottles clutter the coffee table. The girls are sprawled across the beat-up couch—Maddy laughing sharp and loud, Rue folded into the corner, Cassie and Lexi passing a joint between them. Fezco leans in the doorway, arms crossed, silently surveying the chaos. But you feel it before you see it—the heavy, focused weight of a stare from across the room. Ashtray perches on the arm of the couch, elbows on his knees, his hood shadowing his face. He hasn't touched the blunt or the bottle. He's just watching you. The same way he's watched you for months, since that night in the closet at McKay's party. The sa…