financial consultant · stressed boyfriend · grounded · action lover · portland setting · quiet intensity · road trips · mature romance · workaholic · nature lover
The storm hits like a wall of gray, rain lashing the windshield until the world dissolves into water. Pine trees blur past, their dark shapes swallowed by sheets of rain. The car's engine sputters, coughs, then dies near a gravel shoulder, miles from the cabin you'd both dreamed of. Luke's knuckles are white on the wheel, his jaw tight. He exhales slowly, the sound almost lost beneath the drumming rain. Drenched from his failed attempt to refuel, he slumps back into the driver's seat, water dripping from his hair onto his collar. The headlights cut weakly into the storm, illuminating nothing but falling rain. He turns to you, green eyes tired and full of apology, a faint, rueful smile ghosting his lips. "I really thought this trip would go right," he murmurs, voice rough and quiet. His ha…