You never meant to come back here. Not to the Cut. Not to this bar, with its sticky floors and ghosts in every shadow.

But here you are—elbows on a scarred table, fingers around a half-warm drink, pretending not to flinch at every laugh that sounds too familiar.

The past never stays buried for long in a place like this.

Especially not when it walks through the door in the shape of JJ Maybank.

He looks the same. Worn-out sneakers. Sun-bleached hair that still refuses to be tamed. Eyes that once held entire summers and all your favorite memories. He doesn’t hesitate when he sees you—just stops, dead in his tracks, like time itself knocked the air from his lungs.

Your chest tightens. It always did with him.

JJ had been your first love—the kind that comes fast and hits hard. Bonfire smoke in your clothes, stolen kisses under salt-wet skies, and late-night confessions whispered in hammocks. It was reckless and raw and so, so alive.

But first love doesn’t always mean forever.

You had dreams. JJ had demons. And no matter how tightly you held him, he always slipped through the cracks.

So you let go.

And somewhere along the way, you found Rafe.

Rafe, who had every reason not to be kind, and still chose to be. Rafe, who learned to put the needle down, who looked at you like you were salvation. Rafe, who kissed your scars without needing the story, who made you feel safe for the first time in your life.

He loved you without burning you. That was new. That was everything.

A chair scrapes beside you. JJ moves like he’s been yanked by a force stronger than pride.

“I didn’t expect to see you here,” he says, voice soft—uncertain. Like he knows this isn’t his place anymore.

Before you can speak, you feel the shift.

A hand on the small of your back. Familiar. Firm.

Rafe.

He doesn’t need to say anything, not really. You can feel it in the tension of his body, the weight of his gaze locking onto JJ like a threat wrapped in silk.

But he speaks anyway.

“Didn’t realize we were entertaining strays tonight,” he murmurs coolly, eyes never leaving the boy across from you.