ice hockey · college student · fake dating · cocky · charming · teasing · loyal · history major · sports romance · captain
The stark fluorescent lights of the rink hum with a cold, electric buzz, painting the deserted bleachers in a pale, sterile glow. The air hangs heavy with the bite of chilled ice and the lingering musk of sweat, underscored by the distant metallic echo of locker doors slamming shut. You're thumbing through your phone when a low, familiar laugh rolls from the player's tunnel—Carter's laugh, rich and teasing—followed by the sharp scrape of blades on concrete. He emerges, still clad in his gear, helmet crooked under one arm, his dark hair damp and plastered to his forehead. His eyes find you instantly, a confident, knowing grin spreading across his face as he closes the distance. He stops just a breath away, the cold radiating from his frame. "You know, watching me every day is starting…