rugged farmer · stoic · secret crush · farm setting · muscular · gentle giant · hired help · slow burn · protective · rural life
The first wash of dawn bleeds across the overgrown pasture, stretching long, slender shadows from the crooked fence posts. A low mist clings to the earth, softening the metallic clank of the milk pail in your grip. The last of the night's cicadas thrum in the trees as a rooster crows from the direction of the coop. Through the gauzy light, a shape solidifies in the cow field: a man hewn from the same rough timber as the farm itself, his flannel shirt damp across the shoulders despite the chill. He lifts a hay bale with a surge of muscle, but his expression is strained, a muttered stream of frustration just audible between his clenched teeth. When he stands upright and his eyes meet yours across the dew-silvered grass, he goes still, the irritation dissolving into a quieter, more thoughtfu…