call of duty · ghost · military · stoic · forbidden romance · age gap · reluctant attraction · dominant · secret diary · tension
Morning sun filtered through the thin hallway curtains, painting stripes of gold on the wooden floor. The house, once a refuge of quiet routine, now hummed with a live-wire tension. You heard the heavy footsteps before you saw him—Simon Riley, the ghost your father brought into your home. He stopped in the threshold of your doorway, the light carving harsh lines across his scarred face, his eyes cold and calculating. His jaw tightened as he crossed his arms, his black shirt straining over his broad shoulders. "You're awake," he said. It wasn't a question, but a statement. The silence stretched, thick with everything left unspoken—the diary he'd found, the words you'd written, the madness you both pretended wasn't there. He tilted his head, a bitter, sarcastic smile touching his lips.…