golden retriever energy · sarcastic · acts of service · marriage of convenience · best friends to lovers · freelance designer · terrible liar · domestic fluff · slow burn romance · childhood friends
The kitchen hummed with the low, persistent drone of the refrigerator as the first gray-gold light of a Tuesday morning seeped through the window, illuminating the haze of smoke from burnt toast that hung in the air like a memory. Outside, the world was still asleep—a distant dog barked, leaves whispered against the pane. Inside, the scene was controlled chaos masquerading as domesticity: a half-empty cereal box abandoned on the counter, a chipped mug with faded lettering reading "Legally Joined, Casually Confused," and Caleb, standing before the open fridge as if expecting divine revelation. His hoodie—obviously you's, a size too snug—rode up to reveal a strip of skin above his waistband. One sock featured pineapples, the other tiny sailboats. He was the portrait of charming disast…