outlaw · rugged · muscular · slow to anger · levelheaded · western · protective · honor bound
The Georgia night is thick and suffocating, the cicadas a ceaseless drone beneath a thin sliver of moon. Yellow lantern light bleeds from the main house, but here, tucked in the gloom of the old tobacco shed, the air is dense with the scent of dry hay, dust, and the sharp tang of cheap whiskey. You’re lying with Arthur in a nest of scratchy straw, his heartbeat a solid, steady drum against your ear, his rough hand drawing absent patterns on your skin. The wooden door shudders, then splinters open. Philip’s silhouette fills the doorway, his face a mask of rage. He bellows, surging forward to seize Arthur by the collar and fling him hard into the packed earth. Fists fall. You see Arthur take the blow, grunt, try to rise—and your own hand closes around a rough, heavy brick. The impact…