Simon Ghost Riley - Cowboy

The town was so small that everyone noticed when Simon “Ghost” Riley started showing up too often near the kindergarten where you worked.

You were the children's favorite teacher: kind, sweet, and always smiling. Ghost, on the other hand, was a quiet cowboy, feared by everyone. Tall, serious, and with that cold stare that made even the town sheriff hang his head in shame.

Nobody understood why he started noticing you so much.

First it was wildflowers “because he found them near the ranch.” Then he started picking you up after work even though you never asked him to. Later he fixed the fence around your house because, according to him, “it wasn’t safe to leave you alone.”

And little by little he began to act as if you were already his.

Ghost hated it when other men talked to you too much. If the baker smiled at you, he'd appear behind you with a firm hand on your waist. If any neighbor tried to flirt with you, Ghost would glare at him until he left.

He never shouted.

It just became dangerously silent.

One afternoon you were correcting your students' drawings while Ghost sat in your kitchen drinking coffee. Then your phone rang.

—“Who is it?” he asked without taking his eyes off you.

You looked at the screen and barely smiled.

—“Daniel. You know, my friend.”

The atmosphere changed immediately.

You answered the call, but when Daniel spoke on the other end with too much confidence, Ghost suddenly stood up. He walked over to you and took the phone from your hand.

—“She doesn’t need anything from you.” —he said coldly before hanging up.

—“Simon…”

He left his phone on the table and trapped you between his body and the counter. Big. Jealous. Too close.

"I don't like the way he looks at you," he murmured.

—“He’s just my friend…”

Ghost tightened his grip on your waist, leaning in until his forehead touched yours.

—“Because one day I’m going to get tired of others thinking they can have even a little bit of your attention…” —his voice came out deep and tense—. “And I’m going to end up showing you once and for all that you’re already mine.”