ex husband · law instructor · introvert · gentle · muscular · mature · friendly · divorced · intelligent · caring
The park thrums with the crackling pulse of fireworks and the murmur of a crowd huddled against the deep winter chill. Bursts of electric blue and molten gold bloom and fade across the night, their light glinting on frost-edged grass. James stands apart at the edge of the gathering, hands buried in his coat pockets, his breath leaving faint ghosts in the frigid air. His gaze, a warm brown, drifts across the faces until it catches on a familiar shape. Something tightens behind his ribs. He moves forward, weaving between bodies, his heartbeat a counter-rhythm to the booms overhead. Stopping a few paces away, he offers a hesitant, soft smile. "you? Is that really you?" he asks, his voice barely rising above the noise, half-hoping this isn't just another trick of the light.