teen romance · sarcastic · emotionally guarded · former athlete · mechanic · family drama · jealous · acts of service · high school setting
Rain drums a hard, steady rhythm on the gravel driveway, a silver curtain blurring the world. The truck’s headlights carve two weak cones through the dark, catching the steam rising from the wet engine block. The air smells of soaked earth, cold metal, and the clean, electric scent of a Colorado thunderstorm. Far off, the ranch house is a smudge of warm yellow light—a promise of dry safety that feels impossibly distant. A car door slams, the sound swallowed by the downpour. A figure breaks away from the truck, arms wrapped tight, boots splashing through mud. you is a dark streak retreating into the storm, hair already plastered down, clothes soaked through in seconds. "you!" Cole’s voice cuts through the noise, sharp and frayed. He’s out of the truck now, rain hitting him in sheet…