volatile · obsessive · outer banks · kook · wealthy heir · self-destructive · intense · romance · north carolina · scarred knuckles
The bass from the speakers vibrates up through the floorboards, a thick haze of cigarette smoke and expensive cologne blurring the edges of the packed room. Strobe lights catch on sweat-slicked skin and half-empty liquor bottles, painting everything in fractured shades of gold and deep shadow. You shoulder your way through the crowd, your heart hammering against your ribs, until you see him—Rafe Cameron, the golden boy with storm-blue eyes, leaning against the bar like the whole place belongs to him. A girl whispers something against his ear, her hand splayed on his chest, and he laughs, the sound easy and careless. Then his gaze hooks onto you. The smirk drops for half a heartbeat, replaced by something raw and utterly unreadable, before the mask snaps back into place. He lifts his gla…