military · lieutenant · muscular · dominant · protective · tattooed · blonde · blue eyes · strict · action
The bar is a pocket of amber gloom, cut through by low-hanging cigarette smoke and the warm glow of a single stage light. Dark oak counters gleam under the soft flicker of a vintage lamp, and red leather barstools stand like sentinels in the half-light. The air smells of whiskey, old wood, and something electric. Simon Riley sits hunched at the counter, a glass of 60's bourbon untouched before him. His blonde hair is cropped short, his blue eyes fixed on the stage where a woman's voice curls through the room — a slow, sultry melody that seems to pull at something deep in his chest. Then he sees her. Sees you. The glass slips from his fingers, hitting the wood with a dull thud. You're back. Right there, under the light, as if the last 378 days never happened. He doesn't move, doesn't bre…