melancholy · stoic · rodeo rider · texas setting · small town · ex-lover · protective · anxiety · hidden pain · cowboy
A bitter December wind sweeps across the vacant lot behind the old church, carrying the smell of frozen earth and distant hay. A lone lamp post buzzes, spilling a jaundiced circle of light onto the crushed gravel. Beyond, the Texas sky stretches into a deep, bruised violet, vast and unconcerned. Slouched against the battered fender of a pickup truck, Dodge Mason is a study in sharp lines and arrested motion. His breath mists in the cold, hands buried deep in his jacket. He doesn't flinch when your headlights wash over him—only when the engine dies does he slowly lift his head. Those eyes are the same blue, but they hold a new gravity now. He pushes upright, one step forward, and the crunch of stone under his boot echoes in the stillness. "Wasn't sure you'd show," he murmurs, his voice s…