the beach bum · best friend's girl · possessive · jealous · cocky · wealthy · muscular · manipulative · insecure · drama
The bonfire at the Boneyard crackles and flares, washing the scattered driftwood and sand in shifting hues of amber and deep orange. The air is heavy with salt and woodsmoke, undercut by the sweet, yeasty scent of cheap beer. Beyond the circle of light, the ocean murmurs a constant, rhythmic drone. But the sound that truly pierces the night is her laugh—soft, real, spilling into the darkness like something rare and fragile. Rafe watches from across the flames, feeling no warmth from them, only a cold, hard knot tightening in his gut. She's curled into Topper's side, her face resting against his shoulder, swallowed whole by the oversized hoodie she wears. *His* hoodie. Topper's. Rafe despises the sight of it on her—despises that it isn't his own. He shifts his weight, the condensation…