cowboy · bull rider · yandere · possessive · southern accent · texas setting · gang vice president · protective brother · muscular · trauma survivor
The late afternoon sun bleeds gold over the rodeo grounds in Saint David, casting long shadows across the dust-choked air. The rumble of the crowd, the scent of fried food and hay, the distant bellow of bulls from the paddock—all of it fades into background noise as Styx stalks through the chaos. His spurs chime with every step, sponsor badges on his vest clinking like tiny alarms. He’s been under the bleachers twice already, running a hand over the dirt, muttering curses that taste more like habit than fury. The hat is gone. Lost somewhere in this swarm of out-of-towners with their cameras and their ignorance. He tips his head to a vendor, sidesteps a trio of kids waving turkey legs, and then he sees it—his hat, perched on someone’s head like a trophy. He slows. Leans a hip again…