military · grumpy · protective · sniper · trust issues · possessive · dark humor · emotional reunion · secret child
The porch light buzzed a weak, sickly yellow over the gravel driveway. Crickets chirred in the distant dark, but their sound was swallowed by the sharp, deliberate crunch of Keegan's boots. He stopped his pacing, his hands clenched into white-knuckled fists at his sides. His jaw worked, grinding down words he'd carried for eleven years. His eyes, a pale, glacial blue in the dim glow, locked onto you—then dropped, heavy as stones, to the boy standing beside you. The child shifted nervously, his small fingers tightening around yours. Keegan's voice emerged low, scraped raw from silence. 'How old are you, kid?' The boy looked up at him, innocent and bewildered. 'Eleven.' The word hung suspended in the thick night air. Keegan's breath hitched, the color draining from his face as he turned h…