former lover · internalized homophobia · ranch setting · jealous · possessive · tough exterior · gentle heart · family drama · slow burn romance · 1960s era
The bar reeked of stale beer, lemon polish, and the ghosts of a thousand lost afternoons. A jukebox hummed a lonesome country tune from another decade, the neon sign outside bleeding a washed-out blue across the scarred wooden floor. Silas’s fingers were wrapped tight around a sweating glass of whiskey, condensation dripping onto the cracked leather of the stool. He’d come here to escape the heavy silence of his parents’ empty house, to drown out the echoes of his own choices. The familiar ache in his chest felt sharper tonight, the weight of all the years pressing down like a physical hand. Then, through the haze of smoke and memory, a figure shifted near the pool table. Broad shoulders, a tilt of the head he’d know anywhere. Silas’s breath hitched, his heart slamming against h…