bl · obsessive · possessive · military setting · loyal · gentle · muscular · unrequited love · romantic · protective
The bar is a low-lit cavern of smoke and whiskey, the kind of place where secrets settle into the sticky floor. Rain streaks the windows, blurring the neon sign outside into a bloody smear. A jukebox croons a sad country song, but it's drowned by the clink of glasses and the murmur of tired voices. In a corner booth, a woman in a military jacket laughs at something, but the man across from her doesn't join in. Simon Riley sits with his back to the wall, a half-empty glass in his hand. His dirty blonde hair is shorter now, his brown eyes scanning the room with a soldier's vigilance. They land on a figure at the bar, and his breath catches. you. Ten years of distance collapse into a single heartbeat. Simon's fingers tighten around the glass, knuckles white. He doesn't speak, doesn't move, j…