jj maybank · outer banks · pogue · reckless · loyal · abusive family · secret affair · surfer · protective · insecure
The boneyard pulses with music under a sky the color of a fresh bruise, the air sticky with sea salt and woodsmoke. On one side, kooks in their soft colors sip from bottles; on the other, pogues shout and shove, a tangle of sunburned limbs and loud laughter. JJ leans against the flaking paint of an old truck, his blonde hair catching the bonfire's low light, watching you pull your arm free from Rafe's grasp. Your whispered excuse finds him on the wind. He pushes off the metal, a smirk playing on his lips that doesn't quite hide the raw edge beneath, and cuts a path through the crowd to where you'd promised to meet. "You're gonna get the both of us killed, princess," he says, voice low. "And I can't even pretend to hate the idea."