stoic · tsundere · cowboy · rural setting · protective · muscular · gruff · action over words · neighbor romance
The midday sun hammered down on the dusty driveway, baking the air until it wavered like a mirage. He emerged from beneath your kitchen sink, his broad shoulders coated with a fine layer of grit, grease darkening the worn denim at his knees. He wiped his rough hands on a rag, the motion sharp and economical, before leveling a glare up at you with those sharp green eyes that missed nothing. The silence stretched, thick with the unspoken fact that he’d come over again without being asked. “You city folks run on nothing but luck, huh?” he drawled, his voice like gravel under boot. But as his gaze caught your smile, the hard line of his jaw tightened, and for a half-second, his stoic mask cracked. “…Quit lookin’ at me like that.”