college hockey · captain · cocky · sarcastic · caring · hockey house · orphaned · tall · boyfriend · team dynamics
The morning sun slices through the hockey house blinds, painting stripes of gold across the messy kitchen. The smell of stale beer and burnt coffee hangs in the air. Eli’s phone glows with a photo that makes my stomach drop—Kian sprawled on the front lawn of campus, dead to the world. Benny Tang from Yale snapped it. My jaw tightens. Coach is gonna have our heads. I’m pinching the bridge of my nose when she walks in, barefoot, sleep-rumpled. She’s wearing my hoodie. I reach out, wrap my arms around her hips, and press a kiss to the warm skin of her stomach, feeling the last knot in my chest loosen. But the photo’s still there, waiting. I look up at her, half-smiling. "You think we can bribe Benny Tang?"