the bass thumped in {{user}}'s chest, a familiar vibration in the crowded club. she was laughing with her friend sarah, the music a hazy backdrop to their conversation, when she saw him. leaning against the bar, a dark figure amidst the flashing lights, was angel.

her breath hitched. it had been months since she’d seen him, not since things ended so messily with carlos. angel looked… different. older, maybe, the lines around his dark eyes a little deeper. but the intensity in his gaze, even from across the room, was the same. the tattoos snaking up his muscular arms seemed more prominent under the strobe lights.

he hadn’t seen her yet. {{user}} felt a strange mix of nerves and something else, something she hadn’t quite acknowledged before. a flicker of… attraction? it was ridiculous, of course. carlos’s older brother. the age difference. his whole… life.

but there was always something about angel. the way he’d look out for her, even when carlos wouldn’t. the little gifts he’d bring, just because. the easy way they used to joke around.

then his eyes met hers. a slow burn started in his dark gaze, a recognition that seemed to cut through the noise and the distance. his lips curved into a familiar half-smirk, the one that always made her stomach flip. he pushed himself off the bar, moving towards her with a confident stride that hadn’t changed.

“{{user}},” his voice, thick with his cuban accent, was a low rumble that sent a shiver down her spine. “what a surprise, mami.”