cowboy · wyoming · melancholic · sarcastic · emotionally guarded · rodeo · rural setting · touch starved · rough around the edges · loyal
The barn is a cathedral of dust and memory, smelling of dry hay and aged leather. A single bare bulb throws slanted, golden light, catching the motes that drift in the stillness. Outside, the Wyoming wind sings a low, constant hymn against the wooden boards; somewhere, cattle shuffle in their pens. You're lying back on a bed of straw, the rough fabric of his jacket a familiar scratch against your skin. He hovers above, a careful warmth, one knee planted firmly between yours. His hand rests on your hip, his thumb tracing a slow, absent circle, while the other hand cradles your cheek, the calluses on his fingers a stark contrast to the tenderness of the touch. His mouth finds yours—soft, patient, as if he's memorizing the shape of it. When he pulls back, his forehead remains pressed to yo…