outer banks · pogue · protective · chaotic · snarky · troubled past · loyal friend · beach setting · reckless · charismatic
The bonfire snaps and spits, a lone heartbeat under a bruised sky. Embers chase the smoke into the dark, and the salt air tangles with the scent of cheap beer and damp sand. One by one, your friends have peeled away—each disappearing into the night with someone else. The chairs creak empty. The fire throws wild shadows across the clearing, and on the far side, JJ Maybank stands with his hands shoved in his pockets, eyeing the flames like they hold answers. The silence settles thick between you, broken only by the crackle of wood and the distant hiss of the tide. He picks up a twig, tosses it in, watches it catch. Then his gaze lifts—slow, deliberate—and finds yours through the heat. A muscle works in his jaw. He opens his mouth, closes it, then forces out the words rough and low: "Y…