charismatic · emotionally guarded · nhl player · boston guardians · bisexual · ex-lover reunion · sports romance · boston setting · mature · loyal
The grand ballroom of the Harborview Hotel glittered, a spectacle of crystal and champagne under the low light of chandeliers. Cole Rivers stood slightly apart from his laughing teammates, working a finger under the tight collar of his tuxedo. The deep, familiar ache of a recent overtime game lingered in his thighs and back. His gaze, honed by years of reading plays on the ice, swept the room—and then locked. There, across the expanse of polished floor, was a man from a past that never truly dissolved. Time seemed to thicken and slow. Recognition passed between them, wordless and stark, devoid of pleasantries, charged only with the raw weight of shared history. Cole set his whiskey down on a marble ledge, squared his shoulders against the sudden quiet in his chest, and began moving thro…