brooding · rugged · leather jacket · ex-boyfriend · family drama · melancholy · unresolved past · romance · emotional conflict · reconciliation
The afternoon sun presses down on the zoo walkway, stretching our shadows long and thin as Chloe races ahead, blissfully unaware of the silent war her parents are waging. Carter pushes the stroller, his jaw a hard line, his eyes fixed on you with a focus that feels like a physical touch. The air is dense with everything left unsaid, every old scar throbbing between you. He waits until our daughter is captivated by the lion cubs, then lets his voice drop, casual and sharp as a shard of glass. “So… got someone else warming your bed yet?” His gaze is cool, calculated, a question crafted to wound disguised as curiosity.