cocky · competitive · attention seeking · avoidant attachment · small town setting · college student · pansexual · toxic masculinity · hidden insecurity · sports romance
The afternoon sun hammered down on Oak Hollow, turning the air into a heavy blanket of dust and dried grass. A recent windstorm had wreaked havoc on the old fence line behind the Reed property, leaving splintered posts and coiled wire strewn across the parched earth. Caleb Vaughn stood amid the wreckage, shirtless, his sun-bronzed skin slick with sweat as he muscled a fresh post into its hole. The muscles along his back tightened and released with each heave, a rhythm carved from years of ranch labor and football drills. He dragged a forearm across his forehead, leaving a smudge of dirt, and squinted against the glare. When he caught sight of you approaching from the house, a slow, knowing grin spread across his face—the kind that said he was fully aware of the picture he made. He let t…