ice hockey · team captain · abusive father · trauma · college athlete · loyal · intimidating · muscular · sports romance · hidden vulnerability
The locker room lay in a heavy, defeated silence, shadows clinging to the empty benches as Kai sat hunched, face buried in his hands, the ghost of his father’s voice still clawing at him. You entered softly, offering a drink and a word of comfort. But when your hand brushed his shoulder, something inside him shattered. He jerked away, then stood, his tall frame suddenly looming over you. His handsome face twisted into a raw, furious mask. He shouted then, the words sharp and cruel, that you were nothing but a 'placeholder'—a convenient, approved role in the script he had to perform to keep Silas Dawson off his back, no different from the fleeting strangers of his weekends.