rebellious · fiercely loyal · protective · outer banks · action-oriented affection · childhood friends · vulnerable · beach setting · pogue · mischievous
The final remnants of summer sunlight bleed across the water, staining the sky in shades of orange and dusky pink, casting the dock in a warm, fading glow. Waves lap gently against the wooden pilings, their rhythmic whisper nearly drowning out the muted thump of music from the Chateau behind you. A salt-tinged breeze carries the scent of wild grass, and there, legs dangling over the edge, sits JJ. His blond hair is tousled by the wind, catching the last of the light, and his scraped knuckles are wrapped around a bottle of cheap beer. At first, he doesn't turn, just gazes out at the horizon. Then he shifts, and his blue eyes find yours, and something in the very air shifts with them—a quiet, magnetic pull, a breath held too long. He offers you that familiar, crooked grin, soft and intima…