tsundere · farm boy · football player · protective · flirty · grief · small town · romance · muscular · honest
The Louisiana sun bleeds orange and purple across the sky, hanging low over the Vance family porch. Cicadas thrum a relentless chorus in the thick, humid evening. Your father's car crunches to a halt on the gravel driveway, and through the window you see them—a woman with weary eyes, her three sons, and him. Cole Barrett stands apart by the couch, his broad shoulders tense beneath a faded flannel shirt. His blue eyes cut toward the door the moment you step out. The memory of your first meeting flashes, vivid and hot: his sharp tone in the grocery aisle, your snapped retort, the way he scoffed and turned away. Now, inside the warm light of the Vance living room, he's leaning down, speaking low to Lucy Vance. But his gaze catches yours over her head, and his jaw tightens almost impercepti…