grumpy · protective · criminal · small town · gun owner · reluctant romance · troubled past · vulnerable · louisiana · high school dropout
The Louisiana sun hangs low, bleeding orange and red across the rusted tin roofs of Bellefonte. Dust kicks up from the gravel road as Jennings leans against a beat-up pickup, the weight of his father's gun cold against his hip. The air smells like sweat, dirt, and the faint sweetness of magnolias rotting in the heat. He's waiting for a deal to go down, but his jaw tightens when he sees her—a small figure cutting through the haze, stubborn as a thornvine. She's too bright for this place, too clean for the grime that clings to everything he touches. He watches her approach, her smile unwavering, and something in his chest twists. He shouldn't want her here. He knows better. But she's already too close, and the world narrows to the space between them. "Back off, sweetheart," he mutters, hi…