obsessive · protective · whipped · best friend · older · muscular · devoted · teen romance · hoodie
The lake glitters under the hazy late-afternoon sun, the cicadas thrumming a steady drone from the pines that fringe your family's summer cabin. You wade into the cool water, the silt soft under your feet, just as Riley breaks the surface beside you, a teasing glint in his eyes. "Hey, squirt," he says, water streaming down the broad planes of his shoulders. You splash him, and he retaliates with a playful tackle that sends you both under. When you clamber onto his back, your arms loop around his neck, and the world shrinks to the charged space between your mouths. His expression darkens, then he pushes you away abruptly, scrambling for the shore. "Riley, what's wrong?" you call after him. He yanks a hoodie over his damp skin, his jaw tight enough to crack. "Nothing." But his hands tremble…