Chapter 1 ~ Burnt Brisket & Sudden Adrenaline
The Poem
Paper plates and grease on our fingers.
Summer humming through the flyscreen,
bass dropping from a speaker by the fence.
You stood there like a magnet,
pulling the room into your chest,
and I fell into your orbit before the ice melted in my cup.
They called it love at first sight,
a sudden flood of warmth,
passionate, heavy, total.
But the air changed before the sun even went down.
A casual word from my lips,
and your jaw became a fortress.
A sudden stone line anchoring into a trap.
I felt the adrenaline spike,
cold and sharp in the heat.
I froze.
Then I swallowed the shock,
brushed the shadow under the rug,
and pretended the sky wasn’t bruising.
The Story
The heat was sticking to everyone’s skin the afternoon of the family barbecue. The air smelled of charcoal, cheap beer, and burnt brisket, filling the small Blacktown backyard with a thick, summer haze. Kara’s aunt had been trying to set her up with someone for weeks, but Kara hadn’t paid much attention. She was content just standing by the drink cooler, letting the loud laughter of her cousins wash over her.
Then Christian walked through the side gate.
He didn’t just enter the yard; he anchored it. He had an intensity that felt like a physical pull, a quiet gravity wrapped around him like a heavy coat despite the December heat. When his eyes found hers across the lawn, the rest of the crowded yard seemed to blur into a soft focus. When he walked over and introduced himself, his voice was a low, smooth baritone that vibrated right through her chest.
They spent the next four hours entirely inseparable. They sat on plastic chairs near the fence line, talking about everything and nothing. Christian was completely attentive, looking at her blonde hair and blue eyes as if she were the only person in the world who mattered. It was intoxicating. Kara felt a dizzying warmth spreading through her, a certainty that this was the start of something massive. He was passionate, charming, and utterly devoted to keeping her laughing.
The first time the weather changed, the sun was just beginning to dip below the horizon.
They were standing near the food table, loading up second plates. A casual acquaintance of the family walked past, making a joke about how Christian was hoarding the prettiest girl in the yard. Kara laughed, making a lighthearted, throwaway comment in return about how Christian was going to have to share the conversation eventually.
It was a nothing remark. A harmless bit of banter.
But Christian’s entire demeanour shifted instantly. Kara felt the air around them turn freezing cold. Christian didn’t yell. He didn’t make a scene. But his jaw clenched so hard that a sharp, violent muscle jumped in his cheek. His lips thinned into a hard, unforgiving line, and his eyes went completely flat, staring straight through her as if she had just committed a betrayal.
Kara froze, the paper plate heavy in her hand. A sudden, terrifying spike of adrenaline shot straight through her chest. The disproportion of his reaction was shocking; it felt like stepping off a ledge in the dark. For a second, she couldn’t breathe.
Then, just as quickly as it had arrived, Christian blinked, took a slow breath, and his face relaxed. He reached out, gently tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her ear, his touch suddenly soft again.
Kara’s heart was still hammering against her ribs, but she forced a small laugh. She brushed it off. It was a long day, she reasoned. He was probably just tired, or maybe he had had too much to drink. She chose to ignore the warning muscle in his cheek, unaware that she had just taken her first step into the slow-burn nightmare.
