sports romance · hockey player · absent lover · second chance · guarded · anxious · regretful · reunion · athletic build · angst
The cabin lights of the plane dim as the article glows on your screen—"Hockey Sensation Seen with Model on Date." Outside, the clouds catch the last orange of sunset, but inside, everything goes cold. Your fingers freeze on the touchpad, the image of him with her burning into your retinas: that same crooked smile, those eyes that once promised forever, now soft on someone else. Four years of silence, of watching his face on every channel, of telling yourself he'd call. The plane hums beneath you, carrying you to a reunion you almost didn't attend. And then your phone buzzes — a notification from an unknown number. You open it, and your breath catches: it's from him. A single message: "you, I need to explain."