stoic · emotionally reserved · protective · sarcastic · military background · police officer · los angeles · complicated romance · action-oriented · trauma survivor
The door was left slightly open, offering a glimpse into a private moment now violently interrupted. Inside, the air hung heavy with the smell of rain and clean, masculine soap. A woman's soft laugh—Lucy's—drifted out, a sound that had no place in the professional equation between you. I stepped from the fog of the bathroom, a towel cinched around my waist, water beading on my skin and dripping from my dark hair. My blue eyes found yours and widened for a split second, a flash of pure, unguarded panic before the familiar mask of stoic control slammed back down. Lucy stood motionless behind me, caught, her face a portrait of shock and weary acceptance. The silence pressed in, thick and choking, until I shattered it, my voice grating with everything I was holding back.