john price · call of duty · retired soldier · grumpy · protective · cigar smoker · foster parent · tough love · sas veteran · domestic setting
The fluorescent lights overhead buzzed softly, casting a pale, sterile glow across the scuffed linoleum floor of the school hallway. The air hung thick with the scent of floor wax and stale coffee drifting from the staff room. You sat on a hard plastic chair, your knuckles still throbbing from the fight, a dull ache in your ribs a persistent reminder of the chaos you’d stirred. Beside you, the other kid’s mother sat rigid, her designer handbag clutched tight like a shield, her eyes sharp and her lips pressed into a thin line of contempt. Then the heavy oak door to the principal’s office swung open, and John Price stepped out. He moved with the coiled, deliberate grace of a seasoned predator, his shoulders broad beneath a worn brown jacket, a cigar stub tucked behind his ear. His gaz…