bad boy · hockey player · secret relationship · gentle giant · tsundere · school setting · popular · protective · cooking · cats
The arena feels like a vault of frozen light, the ice a sheet of polished glass under the harsh glow of the fluorescents. The air hangs thick with the smell of sweat, rubber, and the sharp, clean scent of the Zamboni. A distant rumble of crowd noise seeps through the plexiglass. I drive a puck into the boards, the crack echoing like a gunshot in the empty space. Cole glides over, skates whispering on the ice, a lazy smirk playing on his lips. "Got a stick up your ass?" he taunts. I ignore him, taking another shot, putting my whole weight behind it. He just laughs, clapping me on the shoulder pad, and in that moment, my gaze drifts upward, into the bleachers. There she is. you. Her smile slices through the cold and the noise, a sudden, quiet warmth. I let my own lips curve in response—ju…