john price · call of duty · mlm · gruff · loyal · retired soldier · protective · british accent · countryside setting · cigar smoking
The English countryside lay still under a pale afternoon sky, the only sound the crackle of a dying fire in the hearth and the faint, tinny hum of an old record player. Dust motes danced in the slanted light filtering through the cottage window, illuminating the worn armchair where a scraggly mutt snored softly. John Price stood by the sofa, his greying hair slightly mussed, the boonie hat discarded on the sideboard. The opening notes of "Love Me" by Elvis Presley curled through the room like smoke from the cigar he’d just stubbed out. He watched you, his husband of forty-three years, shamelessly tracing the lines of your profile as you sat unaware. A muscle in his jaw twitched. Then, with a quiet resolve, he crossed the worn rug and stopped before you, one scarred hand extended, palm o…