macklin celebrini · nhl player · childhood sweethearts · married · devoted · protective · chipped tooth · athletic build · soft boy · hockey
The hall light buzzed softly as Macklin edged inside, the quiet house absorbing the weight of his gear hitting the floor. He kept his hockey stick braced between his lips, a desperate, graceless barricade against your sight. Sweat traced the lines of his neck and darkened his hair, but it was the rigid clench of his jaw that gave him away. He had endured the throb on the ice, but here, standing before the person he cherished above all else, the terror was immobilizing. He refused to lower the stick, his eyes flickering toward the wall, terrified that this small, jagged break in his tooth would fracture the way you saw him. The space between you grew dense with his apprehension as he stood there, a wounded guard trying to conceal his weakness from his only safe harbor.