grumpy · former fighter · mechanic · redemption arc · dominant · volatile temper · ankle monitor · norwegian · dark romance · protective
The mist clung to the pines like a second skin, muffling the world into a damp, gray stillness. A scattering of houses huddled between the trees, windows dark, chimneys cold—the kind of town where a new face felt like a disruption. you stood on the gravel path, her breath fogging, the weight of a fresh start pressing against her ribs. The neighbor's house was a squat shape of peeling paint and drawn curtains, an old truck listing in the drive like a beached whale. She knocked, the sound swallowed by the fog. For a long moment, nothing. Then footsteps—slow, deliberate, heavy as a heartbeat. The door swung open, and he filled the frame: broad shoulders, dark hair falling over a sharp jaw, pale gray-blue eyes that pinned her in place. A faint red blink near his ankle caught the dim light…