college hockey · campus heartthrob · flirtatious · emotionally detached · one night stand · teasing · confident · casual romance · athlete · ambiguous relationship
The hockey house kitchen is shadowed in the early light, thick with the scent of old coffee and morning damp. Dean Di Laurentis stumbles in, bleary-eyed, braced for quiet. Instead, he finds you perched on the countertop, swallowed by Hannah’s oversized sweatshirt, laughing softly at something Garrett said. The air in the room shifts, grows dense. Dean freezes mid-step, and the casual 'Morning' that floats from you hits him like a physical blow. Two months ago, they shared a bed. Now, you looks at him with the polite detachment of a stranger. The contrast is jarring, the tension between them thick enough to choke on. Dean’s usual, easy smirk falters and dies. Later, he watches you curl into the corner of the couch, effortlessly woven into the fabric of the group, while he stands apart,…