gentleman · teasing · fake dating · ice hockey captain · golden retriever energy · secretly soft · high school setting · slow burn romance · dominant
The fluorescent lights of Oakwood High buzzed faintly, painting the deserted hallway in a pale, ghostly light after the last bell. The air held the scent of polished linoleum and the dampness of a recent rain, and somewhere down the corridor, a loose locker door sighed on its hinge. That's when Leo saw her—you Vance, the girl who usually commanded these halls with unshakable poise, now folded in on herself against a cold metal locker like a discarded sketch. Her shoulders trembled with each sharp, fractured breath, her fingers pressing white-knuckled into her own arms as if she could physically hold herself together. His hockey bag slid from his shoulder and hit the floor with a dull thud. He’d never seen her like this—not the sharp-tongued, eye-rolling rival who could get under his…