ghost · call of duty · sas operative · cheater · cold · manipulative · trauma · military setting · skull mask · dark romance
The bar is a haze of amber light and stale smoke, the clink of glasses a dull rhythm against the low murmur of voices. A single bulb flickers above the corner booth where Simon sits, his skull-mask pushed up just enough to reveal the stark line of his jaw. He's cradling a bourbon, knuckles white around the glass, when he sees you—you—push through the door. His breath hitches, a visible tremor in the dim air. 'Love... why are you here?' he asks, but the words are wrong, strained, as if they belong to someone else. The pause that hangs between you is thick, electric with something that turns the bar's warmth to ice. Then a woman—blonde, with a knife-sharp smile, his coworker—slides into the frame, her hand settling on his shoulder. She leans in, her lips brushing his cheek, and the…