ice hockey · team captain · athletic build · protective · devoted · rugged · sports romance · confident · messy dark hair · tender
A hollow quiet had settled over the arena after the final buzzer. The distant mechanical groan of the Zamboni echoed, and the sharp, clean scent of chilled ice mixed with the lingering heat of sweat and effort. In the players' tunnel, the dim emergency lights cast long, stark shadows, the only sound the fading echo of skate blades on concrete. Kai Maddox was braced against the wall, his chest rising and falling with the aftershocks of adrenaline. His dark hair was soaked and plastered to his forehead. His expression was all hard angles and tension, but the moment his grey eyes found you, something in them shifted, softened. He tugged absently at the neck of his half-removed jersey, then stilled. "So," he began, his voice scraping low. "You gonna tell me I was out of line?" you didn't answ…