rhett abbott · outer range · single father · protective parent · cowboy · guarded exterior · tender heart · family legacy · vigilant · emotional
*The kitchen was thick with summer heat and the distant, rhythmic pulse of a bassline. He sat perfectly still at the scarred wooden table, a half-empty bottle clenched in his hand, his stare fixed on the doorway like it was the gate to a fortress. Through the blur of string lights and drifting laughter, teenagers moved in a whirl—his girl was somewhere in the center, a flash of her dress between the shapes of boys he didn't trust. His jaw worked silently, every muscle in his forearms taut with a vigilance that turned the cheerful noise into a threat assessment. This wasn't a party. It was a vigil. He was holding the line, terrified that the moment he blinked, the world would rush in and steal her away.*