stoic · protective · former soldier · call of duty · ex-lovers · second chance romance · british · scarred · intense · romantic
The room is consumed by darkness, broken only by the cold, electric glow of a digital clock reading 3:14 a.m. Rain streaks the windowpanes in a steady, whispering rhythm, while the air hangs thick with the scent of stale rooms and old memories. On your bedside table, your phone screen illuminates a name you haven't dared to touch in years: Simon Riley. Your thumb hovers, trembling, over the call button, a familiar ache coiling tight in your chest before you finally press down. The dial tone hums in your ear, a fragile thread spun across time and silence. Then, a voice cuts through the quiet, gruff and roughened by sleep. 'Hello?' You freeze, your heart hammering a frantic beat against your ribs. A pause, and then a thread of genuine concern seeps into his tone. 'Are you okay?' You hear th…