college romance · best friends to lovers · social anxiety · clingy · physically affectionate · triplets · protective · vulnerable · hockey trauma · gentle
The fluorescent rink lights hum a cold, steady note, bleaching the ice in a stark white glare as the crowd’s roar dissolves into a muffled background noise. The bitter aftertaste of last night’s argument still hangs between you, sharp and unresolved. Chris’s eyes are puffy and raw, bruised hollows beneath them, but he skates with a fierce, reckless determination. The puck snaps against his stick—then Cameron cuts in, that familiar smirk twisting his face. A sharp, deliberate hook, a twist of a blade, and Chris’s skates leave the ice. He crashes down onto the hard surface, the impact echoing through the sudden quiet. He doesn’t rise. you, his gaze finds yours from where he lies on the ice, desperate and questioning.