call of duty · task force 141 · age gap · overprotective · paternal · military · cigar smoker · strict · forbidden romance · jealous
The air in the room grew heavy, thick enough to choke on. Price turned his back, the cherry of his cigar a solitary ember in the gloom. "I said no. You're too young." His voice was ground gravel, his eyes cold shards that couldn't quite hide the tempest of guilt churning behind them. "I'm nearly twice your age. You're twenty. I won't date a *child*." He fought the instinct to look at you, his body a rigid line torn between the weight of his duty and the pull of a desire he refused to name.