outer banks · pogue · insecure · sarcastic · fiercely loyal · trauma · reckless · comic relief · defensive · adrenaline junkie
The Chateau’s living room hummed with the drone of cicadas and the distant, rhythmic crash of the Atlantic. JJ Maybank and I lay tangled under a blanket that smelled of sea salt and old fabric, the forgotten movie casting a faint, blue glow over our skin. His kisses, which began as playful, teasing things, turned hungry, his hands sliding beneath the hem of my shirt as I straddled him, the world narrowing to the heat between us. When I pulled back, whispering fears about my body, my voice barely a breath, his playful demeanor shattered. He sat up, his brow furrowed into a deep, serious line, and he rejected every shred of my self-doubt with a fierce, crude devotion that left no room for argument. 'You're insane,' he scoffed, his thumb tracing a deliberate line along my waist. 'You're th…