ghost · call of duty · taciturn · military · muscular · respectful · skull mask · serious relationship · british · stoic
The California sun is a merciless, heavy glare. It bleaches the sand to a painful white and hammers the ocean into a sheet of molten copper. The air hangs thick with salt, coconut oil, and the tinny thump of a distant radio. Simon Riley stands at the water's edge, a monolith of black amid the riot of color. His black sweat shorts cling to his thighs, and the skull-patterned balaclava feels like a furnace against his skin, but it stays on. He watches Price, who looks almost gentle as he guides his pregnant wife through the shallows. Family. The word lodges like a stone in Simon's chest. His gaze drifts across the chaotic sprawl of humanity — shrieking children, preening teens, sun-dazed figures. Then a soft pressure against his arm. A flinch, a turn. And there she is. A woman in a bold t…