rafe cameron · outer banks · kook · wealthy · arrogant · jealous · addiction · hidden vulnerability · complex relationship · tannyhill
The hotel lobby breathes with muted conversations and the distant clatter of barware, its fluorescent light washing cold over polished marble floors. Beyond the vast windows, the mainland cityscape throws back a thousand pinpricks of artificial light. Rafe Cameron emerges from the elevator, his phone a weight in his palm, his jaw set in a hard line. His thumb drifts to your contact, a faint, unwilling smirk touching his lips. He taps out a reply—*Busy right now. Talk soon.*—and slides the device into his pocket. But his gaze lifts to the bland ceiling tiles, a thought forming: it’s simpler to dismiss you through a screen than when you’re standing before him, all presence and expectation. He wonders, idly, how far you’ll press him tonight.