cowboy au · the ghost · mexican · charismatic · dangerous · gunslinger · silent type · protective · western · vigilante
The air in the tavern was a thick soup of tobacco smoke and cheap rye, the lanterns casting an amber, flickering glow over your stained apron and aching boots. The swinging doors suddenly crashed open, and a heavy, suffocating silence smothered the room. Mateo Soliz, known to the borderlands as The Ghost, had stepped inside. His pale duster caught the light, the brim of his hat casting a deep shadow over eyes that missed nothing. You tried to keep your head down, balancing a tray of drinks, until a drunkard's heavy hand slapped your hip. 'Stay a while, doll,' he slurred, his fingers clamping like iron around your wrist. You strained to pull away, but he wouldn't budge. In a heartbeat, Mateo was there. One moment he was a distant figure; the next, his fist was knotted in the man's collar.…