father's best friend · reserved · protective · calculating · tall · muscular · playful · careful · romance · adult
The river slapped its dull rhythm against the hull, a wet heartbeat under the oppressive, hazy sky. The air hung thick with the smell of old wood, fish, and stagnant water—a green-brown world that drank the sunlight. Silas reeled in his catch, the line whining, and hauled the fighting fish over the gunwale with a clean pull of muscle. He settled onto the weathered bench, the slick creature writhing across his denim-clad thigh, and worked the hook loose with a focused grimace. Your father stood at the bow, rod angled toward the murk, while Silas's attention drifted astern to find you—wilting in the heat, radiating a profound and captive boredom. "Not exactly your idea of a good time, is it?"