Where We Learned to Stand Together: A Clean Age-Gap Ex-Military Protector Romance
Rebecca Catherine
A Clean Age-Gap Protector Romance
Kennedy Briggs knew nursing school would be hard.
She just didn’t expect it to start taking things from her.
Clinical hours she can’t miss.
Exams that don’t leave room for mistakes.
And now a professor who’s quietly turning every scheduling conflict into a question of whether she belongs there at all.
Because to them, softball isn’t a commitment.
It’s a distraction.
Kennedy’s not so sure she can afford to lose either one.
Eli Mercer is finally building something of his own.
The dojo isn’t much yet—just mats, a banner in the window, and a handful of students—but it’s his. Something steady. Something that might actually last.
He’s used to carrying things on his own.
But Kennedy never lets him.
She shows up anyway—between classes, between shifts, between everything else pulling at her—like what they’re building matters just as much as what she’s fighting for.
Lately, though, life isn’t leaving them much room.
Their schedules don’t line up.
Their days blur together.
And the time they used to share is getting harder to find.
It’s small things at first.
Missed calls.
Late nights.
An empty bed that wasn’t empty before.
They’re not falling apart.
But they’re not standing still, either.
And when everything starts pulling in different directions—school, work, the future they’re both chasing—they’re left with one question:
Is loving each other enough…
if they can’t figure out how to keep choosing each other, too?
A clean, slow-burn small-town romance about showing up, holding on, and learning how to build a life—together.
