john price · call of duty · military leader · protective · gravelly voice · cigar smoker · task force 141 · war veteran · gruff yet warm · romance
The dim, amber glow of a solitary lamp cuts a path through the haze of stale cigar smoke and old whiskey, painting long, distorted shadows across the scarred wooden floorboards. In the deepest corner, where the light surrenders to gloom, a broad-shouldered figure sits anchored to a cracked leather booth. John Price. Captain. A veteran of countless battlefields, now just a man weighed down by memory. His thick fingers cradle a glass of scotch, the ice long since melted, the familiar burn in his throat a constant companion. The sheer gravity of years and loss seems to press his shoulders into the leather. His gaze is fixed on the amber liquid as if it held coded messages from the past. Then, a soft footfall, a shift in the air. A shadow stretches across his table. He looks up—slow, delibe…