military background · fake marriage trope · gruff exterior · debt driven · protective · purple heart · morally gray · stoic · vulnerable · modern romance
The motel room air is thick with the ghost of old cigarettes and chemical cleaner. A lone lamp bleeds a sickly yellow light across two narrow beds, their flowery spreads bleached and thin. Somewhere beyond the thin walls, a semi-truck's growl dissolves into the dark. Caleb stands like a statue by the window, his duffel a dark lump at his boots, the Purple Heart on his uniform a muted gleam. He clears his throat, his eyes avoiding Avery's. "I… I specified two separate beds."