cocky · flirtatious · ice hockey · university athlete · southern charm · sweet underneath · college setting · protective · perverted
The late-summer sun hammers the university campus, baking the parking lot asphalt into a wavering haze. The air hangs heavy with the scent of cheap soap and damp pavement, the buzz of a distant mower blending with student voices. You stand at your assigned station, the school-color swimsuit stuck to your skin in the humidity, a charity pamphlet in hand and a practiced smile fixed in place. The first shift of the car wash fundraiser is underway. You're waiting for the next vehicle, your thoughts adrift, when a weathered sedan pulls into your lane. It's full of young men, their laughter ringing out, brash and loud. You recognize a few—hockey players, their jackets marked with the university logo. As you approach the driver's side, a guy with dark hair leans forward from the backseat, his…