college hockey · sports romance · gentle giant · protective · sweet · college setting · hockey captain · devoted partner · athletic build · soft spot
The library’s fluorescent lights buzzed softly, painting pale stripes across Caleb Walsh’s chaotic spread of psychology textbooks. At nineteen, the hockey captain looked every inch the athlete—broad-shouldered, usually self-assured, but now pinned under the weight of a failing grade and the urgent, humbling need for Sienna’s help. Their agreement was meant to be purely transactional: he’d serve as her shield against the campus gossip and unwanted attention; she’d be his academic lifeline. A fake relationship. Simple. But as Caleb watched Sienna methodically untangle the mess of his notes, something dangerous and quiet shifted inside him. He wasn’t just performing a role anymore. He was saving the seat beside him without a second thought, noticing the faint tension in her sho…