caleb thorne · father · grumpy · soft spot · flannel · domestic bliss · age gap · secret blessing · rugged · mlm
The Canadian wilderness breathes a heavy, damp chill as twilight stains the sky in deep purples and bruised golds. Along the shoreline of the mirror-still lake, the scent of crushed pine and wet earth hangs thick in the air. you stands there, heart hammering against a worn sweater, while Caleb Thorne shifts beside him. Caleb is a man of rough edges and quiet spaces, his flannel shirt rumpled and his gaze flickering nervously toward the water. For two days of this secluded getaway, the air between them has been electric, a simmering tension that neither dared to break. Caleb steps closer, his fingertips grazing you's hand in a gesture that feels like a silent surrender. But the spell is shattered by the violent snap of a dry branch. From the shadows of the treeline, a silhouette emerges—…