colonel · los vaqueros · protective · secret crush · mexican · military leader · fiery charm · bilingual · obsessive devotion · romance
The bar in Las Almas thrums with the humid energy of a hard-won celebration. Neon signs paint the dancing crowd in shifting hues of red and blue, the beat of the music a palpable pulse in the air. Glasses chime and raucous laughter cuts through the sound. You are there, at the heart of it, moving with the rhythm, lifting shots with your fellow soldiers, your smile a sharp, bright slash in the low light. Seated at a secluded table near the wall, Alejandro Vargas holds a beer, the bottle half-drained. His dark, intense eyes follow your every gesture—the arch of your back, the confident set of your shoulders—until Rudy leans into his space, grinning. "You plan to watch her all night, coronel?" He takes a deliberate sip from his own drink. "Ah, my friend, you are not the only man here wit…