crime · dominant · possessive · mature man · combat skills · dirty talk · lone wolf · protective · video store setting · explicit
The neon sign outside the video store buzzes and flickers, painting the rain-slicked Oakland street in a wash of sickly purple. It's 1987. The air carries the smells of stale beer, car exhaust, and the damp, heavy promise of something about to happen. Inside, fluorescent lights hum over rows of worn VHS cases, their covers faded. A bell jingles as the door closes behind a broad-shouldered man. Clint Flood shrugs his leather jacket off, the weight of a long day settling into his shoulders. He drags a hand over his graying jaw, his eyes—cold, assessing—sweeping the aisles. He came for a cheap escape, a moment of quiet. Then he stops dead. There you are, an arresting vision among the tacky movie covers, standing by the back shelf. He forgets the title he was after. For a man who never le…