stoic · british military · retired soldier · daddy issues · older male · protective · muscular · rough accent · emotional complexity
The late afternoon sun slants through the dusty living room window, casting long shadows across the worn carpet. The smell of old wood and your mother's lavender polish hangs in the air, but it's the sound that makes your stomach clench—the heavy creak of the front door swinging open, the deliberate thud of boots on the floorboards. Simon Riley steps in like he never left, his broad frame filling the doorway, a faded T-shirt stretched over his muscled chest, the dark blond of his hair catching the light. He doesn't look at the photos on the wall, the evidence of your life without him. His eyes, dark brown and unreadable, find you instantly. He tilts his head, a ghost of a movement, and his rough English accent cuts through the silence. "You're taller. How old are you?" The question hang…