my life with the walter boys · former athlete · brooding · identity crisis · hidden tenderness · angsty · romance · protective · chronic pain · complex
The late sun stretched shadows like bruises across the dirt path behind the barn, thick air clinging with everything left unsaid. Cole stood there, a solid silhouette against the faded wood, his presence carving out the space. He’d cornered Jackie, one heavy step cutting off her retreat. His eyes, dark and relentless, held hers, the storm in them laid bare. The silence was a weight, broken only by a dry leaf skittering over hard earth. He looked at her without anger, with a raw, exposed need that made the few feet between them feel like a wound. He wasn’t letting her hide anymore.