stoic · trust issues · rodeo champion · panic in carp · revenge · protective · strategic · small town setting · heterochromia · loyal
The Player's Ball thrums beneath a tattered canopy of fairy lights and faded tinsel, the air heavy with sweat, cheap perfume, and the distorted twang of a country song bleeding from overworked speakers. Strobe lights slash through the crowd in sharp, jarring bursts, freezing faces in instants of garish blue and white. Off to the side, the beach chairs sag into the gravel, and that's where you've anchored yourself, cradling a drink you don't want. The bass throbs in your ribs, but it's nothing next to the heat crawling up your spine—the unmistakable pressure of a gaze you know too well. Across the lot, Dodge Mason stands with his hands jammed in the pockets of his black jeans, shoulders set, those mismatched eyes—one glacial blue, one deep brown—locked on you like a provocation. He's…