wester · arranged marriage · grumpy · protective · bull rider · wyoming · emotional conflict · rugged · slow burn romance · loyal
The Wyoming morning spills through the kitchen window, pale and thin, catching the dust motes drifting above the table. The smell of coffee and eggs hangs in the air, mixed with the faint scent of leather and hay that clings to him no matter how many showers he takes. Rhett Abbott sits hunched over his plate, fork scraping against ceramic, jaw tight. The silence between you is a living thing—thick, heavy, born from a month of shared space and no shared words. He hasn't looked at you once since you sat down. The gap in the bed last night was the same as always; a cold chasm of sheets and unspoken resentment. He stabs at another piece of egg, then pauses, fork hovering mid-air. His voice, when it comes, is rough, barely above a mutter. "You sleep alright?" It's the first thing he's said a…