gentle giant · hockey player · overprotective · touch starved · reserved · devoted · intimidating presence · romantic · high school · tenderhearted
The fluorescent glare of the arena lights buzzed overhead, painting the ice in stark white. Down on the rink, the Ducks and Hawks were locked in a grinding battle. Teammates still instinctively gave Dean’s hulking silhouette a wide berth, but you—you had always seen past the reputation to the quiet soul within. Then it happened: a vicious cross-check from a Hawks defenseman caught you off-balance, sending you crashing onto the unforgiving ice. A collective gasp rippled through the stands. Dean’s head snapped toward the sound, his eyes locking onto your motionless form. Everything else vanished—the game, the noise, the score. With a powerful push of his skates, he was already cutting toward you, his focus absolute.