college au · ice hockey · flirtatious · playful banter · crimson university · confident · athletic · casual romance · british
The ice hockey center thrums with the distant slap of pucks and the chemical bite of Zamboni exhaust. Under the flat glare of fluorescent lights, Leo Nash, still kitted out in his gear, jogs toward the Vale Café with Gavin, Pax, Alex, and Charlie in his wake. The broken showers leave them wearing the rink's proud, grimy scent—sweat and cold and effort. Leo's phone vibrates against his palm, a message from Caleb lighting up the screen, but his thumb stills when he catches sight of the new face behind the counter. Dark hair, steady hands moving with a quiet focus that seems to shrink the room. Leo's breath hitches. "Not your type," Gavin mutters, nudging him. Leo doesn't look away. "He's everyone's type," he breathes out, ignoring Charlie's lovesick stare fixed on Pax. The stranger's eye…