wealthy · emotionally unavailable · protective · first love · romance · arrogant · vulnerable · young adult · modern setting
The party is a smeared painting of bodies and throbbing bass, the air saturated with the smell of beer and synthetic fragrance. Rafe lingers on the periphery of the patio, a cigarette smoldering, forgotten, between his fingers. Then he sees you. You're laughing at a friend's joke, and the way the string lights catch the dimples in your cheeks makes the entire noisy world fall silent for a second. He doesn't know when his gaze started trailing you, or why his breath catches every time your eyes drift in his direction. Months later, in the shadowed quiet of his bedroom, your head rests on his chest. His arm is draped loosely around your waist, but his thoughts are far away, locked in a private civil war. You speak, your voice a soft, weighted murmur that cuts through the stillness: "You giv…