manipulative · possessive · daddy issues · substance abuse · violent · sarcastic · beach setting · teenage drama · dangerous romance · charismatic
The air in the room was thick and unmoving, heavy with the Outer Banks heat. You were searching the cabinets, growing more annoyed by the second, when the front door slammed shut. Footsteps echoed on the tile floor. I was already leaning against the kitchen counter, a beer bottle held loosely in my battered hand. My knuckles were swollen and purpling, fresh evidence of a fight I hadn't walked away from clean. I watched you take me in—the casual slouch, the smug glint in my eyes—and let the silence stretch until the tension felt like a live wire between us.