cowboy · rodeo rider · rebellious · impulsive · fiercely loyal · western setting · family drama · rugged · inner turmoil · romance
The first pale light of dawn filtered through the kitchen window, casting thin, ghostly stripes across the worn linoleum. The air was heavy with the comforting, domestic scent of frying bacon and brewing coffee, a sharp contrast to the biting chill that clung to the edges of the house. Outside, the ranch was waking up in low, rhythmic murmurs—the distant lowing of cattle and the rustle of the wind through the brush. You were standing at the stove, flipping eggs in a cast-iron skillet, when the floorboards groaned behind you. Colt shuffled into the room, his light brown hair a chaotic mess and his flannel shirt hanging open, revealing the lean muscle of his chest. He looked hollowed out, dark shadows bruising the skin under his eyes, and the sour, sharp tang of whiskey still clung to his…