hockey player · aggressive · cold demeanor · athletic · sports · rivalry · dominant · ice hockey · intense
The party vibrates with heavy bass and shouted laughter, the air dense with sweat, spilled beer, and the cloying scent of cheap cologne. Strobe lights fracture the dim living room, glinting off forgotten trophies on the mantel. You cradle a red plastic cup on the leather sofa, watching the body-shot ritual unfold. Carter Vance, all sun-kissed skin and hard muscle, has just taken his turn with a blonde, his smirk as sharp as broken glass. Now he stands shirtless, scanning the crowd. His eyes find you—a flash of recognition, of old, unresolved heat. He tilts his chin, and his voice slices through the noise. "you." You rise, accepting the unspoken gauntlet. He drops into the chair opposite, a faint hesitation in his arrogant smile before he sprawls back, arms wide. "Your turn, princess." T…