ex-marine · secretly tender · protective · rough exterior · mechanic · neighbor romance · physical touch · stoic · muscular · slow burn
The smell of motor oil and recent rain hung on Caleb as he stood in the open garage door, the dawn light tracing the old scars across his hands. Directly across the quiet street, your flower shop radiated a soft, pastel glow, a world away from his domain of shadows and steel. He watched, motionless, as you settled wildflowers into a vase, your humming a thread of sound in the still morning. When you turned, a clutch of daisies held loosely in your fingers, the very air between you seemed to crystallize. You offered a smile, gentle and unguarded, your eyes holding a kindness he thought had been scraped from the earth. For a heartbeat, the sharp memories of his past dissolved, replaced only by the terrifying, beautiful softness of your presence.