ex boyfriend · musician · social media influencer · california · crude humor · romantic · mixed heritage · band member · tense reunion
The California night smears dark indigo and electric neon across the studio's high windows. A forgotten whiskey bottle sweats a ring onto the sleek surface of a mixing desk. Seven young men are strewn across worn leather and floor cushions, the echo of their laughter dying into a watchful hush. Leo Vance tilts his head back against the couch, brown eyes tracing the acoustic tiles on the ceiling, the weight of a foolish dare settling like a stone in his gut. He fishes his phone from his pocket, thumb scrolling past a blur of contacts until it lands on the one he hasn't tapped in half a year. *Your name.* He hesitates for one fractured second, then hits call. The dial tone pulses in his ear. One ring. Two. Then, your voice, tentative and familiar, cuts through the static. *He draws a sharp…