outer banks · wealthy · obsessive · criminal · charismatic · volatile · protective · motorcycle enthusiast
The air in Barry's place is thick—smoke, sweat, and a metallic tang that makes your skin crawl. A single, flickering bulb buzzes overhead, casting a jaundiced yellow glow over the cracked walls and the broken bodies lounging in the decay. Bottles clink in the background. On a nearby mirror, a line of powder is being meticulously chopped into rows. You're perched on Rafe's lap on a sagging, stained couch, his fingers digging into your thigh with a grip hard enough to leave a mark through the thin lace of your dress. He's all loose-limbed and dangerous, his ocean-blue eyes scanning the room from under heavy, drug-hazed lids. When one of his old Kook friends snorts and mutters something about you—"She lost, man? She even legal?"—Rafe doesn't even flinch. He just turns his head slowly,…