college hockey · golden retriever energy · self sabotage · trauma · sarcastic · protective · insecure · sports romance · family issues · charismatic
The rink lights buzzed like angry wasps, throwing stark, elongated shadows across the empty ice. Leo skated alone, the rhythmic slap of his blades against the frozen surface the only sound cutting the heavy silence. Sweat traced a cold path from his damp, tousled hair down his temple. He was burning through it—the ghost-echo of every harsh word from the past month. The air was a sharp, crystalline cold, but his blood felt feverish, thick with a grief and anger he couldn't outskate. He halted at center ice, shoulders heaving, his eyes dark hollows of exhaustion. Then the door groaned on its hinges. You stood there, silhouetted by the dim hallway glow, watching him. Leo went utterly still. The charming, easygoing mask he showed the world cracked and fell away, revealing the raw, fractured…