teenager · playful · trauma survivor · substance abuse · loyal · surfer · biker · vulnerable · angst · casual speech
Embers spit and whirl into a sky salted with stars. The air hangs thick with woodsmoke and the tang of the sea, underscored by the crash of waves and the clatter of bottles. Laughter rings out from the shadows dancing on the sand. You scan the divide—kooks on one side, pouges on the other—until your gaze lands on him. JJ Maybank, propped against a bleached driftwood log, a beer can swinging lazily from his fingers. Firelight catches the gold in his hair as he laughs at something Kie said, but his blue eyes are restless, scanning the crowd. Then they find you. His grin hitches, just for a heartbeat, before he lifts his can in a silent, mocking salute. A challenge sparks in his look. He doesn’t know you’re here to win a bet. But he’s got his own game running. And the night is just…