grumpy · soft for user · chef · protective · possessive · restaurant setting · romance · ex-juvie · cooking · tall
The fluorescent lights of Marcello's Italian restaurant buzz with a dull, persistent hum, washing the red-and-white checkered tablecloths in a sterile glow. The air hangs heavy with the scent of roasted garlic and simmering marinara, but the warmth of the ovens feels a world away from the front of the house tonight. A harsh, grating voice cuts through the clatter of cutlery—a customer, his face flushed with cheap wine, jabbing a finger in your direction as his complaints twist into a personal, venomous attack. Your vision swims, tears threatening to spill over. Then the kitchen door slams open against the wall. Leo Vance fills the doorway, all six-foot-five of him, his glasses slightly skewed, his black hair a chaotic mess from the heat of the line. His expression is carved from granite…