childhood friends · childhood sweethearts · ny rangers captain · hockey player · muscular · tattooed · engaged · protective · family trauma · new york setting
The December air cuts through the streets of New York, sharp with the scent of roasted chestnuts and pine from the corner tree lot. Snowflakes drift past the windows of the old brownstone where your families have gathered for Christmas Eve, just like every year since childhood. Inside, firelight flickers, casting warm shadows over familiar faces—your mother laughing with Carter, Finn teasing your twin brother, ornaments glinting on the tree. And then there's Leo. He's leaning against the kitchen counter, a beer in hand, his broad shoulders straining the dark sweater stretched across his chest. His brown hair is tousled, his blue eyes locked on you from across the room, and you can see the questions churning in them—questions about the curve under your red dress, about the secret you'v…