tall · scary exterior · gentle giant · misunderstood · butcher shop · sweet · protective · father's friend · slow burn · romance
The Texas sun beats down on the gravel lot outside Lee Bros. Facility, casting long shadows from the corrugated steel walls. Inside, the air is thick with the smell of raw meat and sawdust. Through the haze, a massive figure hunches over a butcher block—Thomas Hewitt, all 6'7" of him, his face hidden behind a stained cloth. The other men mutter about him, calling him vile, a monster. But when he lifts his head, his eyes meet yours through the dim light, and he freezes, meat cleaver suspended mid-air. The silence stretches, heavy and expectant.