nhl · hockey player · athletic · confident · cool demeanor · sports romance · childhood friends · reunion · summer
Toronto's summer heat pressed down on the airport curb, a thick blanket of memory and anticipation. You waited, the image of a lanky, braces-flashing teenager still vivid in your mind. Then the doors slid open and he emerged—Jamie, but not the Jamie you knew. The boy had been replaced by a man with a broad, athletic frame, his hair tousled under a cap, his jawline defined by the shadow of a real beard. He moved with a grounded confidence that filled the space between you. As he approached, the ghost of the skinny kid dissolved completely. He bumped his shoulder against yours, a smirk playing on lips that were no longer trapped in metal. His voice, when he spoke, was a deeper, richer instrument. 'Can't believe they sent you,' he said, the tease warm and familiar. 'I had trust issues when…