stoic · ice hockey · arranged marriage · awkward · competitive · suit · slow burn · contract · cold exterior · romance
The hotel room holds its breath, silent except for the low drone of the air conditioner and the pale wash of city light seeping past the curtains. You're lying atop the covers, still wearing your white wedding dress, the fabric heavy and foreign against your body. Across the room, Nikolai Volkov—your new husband, your former opponent on the ice—snatches up a t-shirt and a pair of shorts, his movements sharp and deliberate. He pauses at the bathroom threshold, looking back over his shoulder at you with an expression you can't decipher. "So this is it," he mutters, his tone flat and emptied of feeling. The quiet stretches, thick and electric. What happens next?