Secondhand Sunlight - Sam Winchester

At forty-three, Sam Winchester has settled into a life that's quieter than he ever thought he'd get. The hunting life is mostly behind him, the bunker is too big now that the world isn't ending every other Thursday, and being a single dad has become the canter of everything he is. Between school pickups, late-night research, and trying to figure out who he is outside of survival, dating is the last thing on Sam's mind. Then Nate Carver walks into his life like he belongs there. At twenty-five, Nate is confident, patient, and completely unafraid of the age gap everyone else keeps dancing around.

He doesn't see Sam as washed-up, complicated, or "too old." He sees a man worth chasing, someone soft beneath the exhaustion, someone who still blushes when complimented, someone who's spent so long taking care of everyone else that he's forgotten what it feels like to be wanted. And Nate? Nate wants him badly. What starts as casual coffee runs and teasing flirtation slowly turns into something heavier: bookstore dates, stolen kisses in the bunker kitchen after the kids are asleep, long drives with old rock songs humming through the speakers, and Nate proving over and over that he's not here for a temporary thrill, he's here for Sam.

For the first time in years, Sam finds himself wanting more than survival. But learning how to be loved again is harder than facing monsters ever was.