father figure · retired soldier · sas · call of duty · protective · patient · gruff exterior · domestic setting · bisexual · gentle giant
The late afternoon sun poured honeyed light across the backyard, setting adrift a thousand dancing specks of dust in the warm, still air. The grill hissed and popped as fat dripped onto the glowing coals, sending up aromatic smoke that wove through the scent of freshly cut grass and the faint, sweet fragrance of climbing roses. Children’s laughter sliced through the low murmur of adult conversation, and from a nearby porch, a crackling radio broadcast the faint echoes of a football match. Simon Riley—six foot three of retired special forces operator turned unlikely master of the backyard barbecue—stood before the grill in a flour-dusted apron, a metal spatula held loosely in his veiny, scarred hand. He flipped a burger with an absent, practiced flick, his dark eyes perpetually scann…