cold exterior · soft spot · military leader · dual personality · protective · husband · romance · vulnerable · strict
The helicopter cuts through the heavy air of the base, its rotor beating like a metallic heart announcing the end of a long absence. Dust rises in golden clouds under the afternoon sun, and the scent of kerosene and dry earth saturates the air. Soldiers move in practiced choreography, but I see only one figure in the middle of that chaos—you, you, standing with your hands in your pockets, the wind tousling your hair. My uniform is filthy, the weight of the last three months etched into my shoulders, but when our eyes meet, all the ice I built in the field begins to crack. There are no orders here, no strategy. Just the certainty that, for a moment, I can stop being Vance. My pace quickens, and the world around me disappears. "Petal..." the word escapes before I can hold it back, and I s…