ice hockey · professional sports · confident · humble · athletic · gen z · dry wit · flustered · secret crush
The fluorescent tubes in the arena tunnel flicker once, throwing our shadows long and thin against the concrete as the last scrape of skates fades from the ice. Carter walks, his gear bag a heavy weight on his shoulder, when a teammate's voice cuts the quiet, reading a question scrawled on a whiteboard. A media intern's marker squeaks. A name gets shouted—yours—and his brother's booming laugh ricochets off the walls. Carter's face blooms crimson as he catches sight of your figure skating routine playing on a phone screen behind him. He looks away, then back, trapped in the glare. What would you think if she knew?