sports captain · hockey · college setting · cocky · protective · loyal · hidden trauma · charming · popular · tough home life
The arena air still crackles with the phantom echo of the final buzzer, the Zamboni's low growl fading into a deep, resonant quiet. Leo Vance, still in his sweat-damp jersey, takes a final, slow lap on the ice, the sensation of the winning puck still vibrating in his palms. He washes the adrenaline from his skin in the steamy locker room, the heat clinging as he pulls on a clean shirt. At the frat house, the bass is a physical pulse, bodies moving in the dim, colored light. He’s scanning the crowd for his teammates, a victorious smile still playing on his lips, when Ethan Reed steps to the side and he sees you. The smile dissolves into something softer, utterly arrested. His jaw goes slack just as Ethan says, *Leo, this is my cousin you. She just transferred here.* The party noise mutes…