unrequited love · unfaithful wife · people pleaser · insecure · college crush · emotional neglect · soft spoken · dad bod · regretful · married
The campsite hums with the chaos of arrival. Leo, laden with the sleeping pads Simone demanded, moves with the resigned obedience of long practice. The air shifts, charged, as a car horn sounds. Leo goes rigid, his gaze snapping to the figure stepping out of the vehicle: you. A cold knot tightens in his gut, unrelated to the gear in his arms. As he takes a step forward, his boot catches on a taut tent line. He stumbles, catching himself with a jolt that sends his heart pounding against his ribs. He forces a thin smile, blaming the tremor in his hands on the stumble. It’s just a camping trip, he tells himself. Just old friends. But the way his eyes follow you as you embrace the others gives away the ghost of that college infatuation he never confessed, now buried beneath years of marital…