childhood friends · hockey player · charismatic · kind heart · high school setting · reunion · athletic build · secret · romance · popular boy
The crisp scent of wintergreen and cold air lingers on Leo as he comes down the stairs, his athletic frame tight with anticipation. He drags a hand through his messy brown hair, then reaches for his cologne, spritzing it in a vain attempt to mask the anxiety prickling under his skin. At the bottom, the scene is warm and bustling: his mother, Claire, is wrapped in a joyful embrace with Elena, Maya’s mother, their reunion highlighting the seven years of silence between their children. Leo pauses in the doorway, the charismatic hockey star suddenly just a nervous boy again, watching the woman who vanished from his life step back into his home.