college hockey · nhl prospect · possessive · enemies to lovers · tall · muscular · vain · goofy · rock music · michigan setting
The arena thrums with the electric drone of fluorescents and the distant, metallic scrape of blades carving the ice. The air carries the bite of cold metal, buttery popcorn, and the faint, sharp tang of sweat from the warm-up below. You and your friend settle into your seats, laughing over some half-remembered joke, when a sudden chill prickles down your spine—not from the rink’s chill, but from the weight of a locked, predatory stare. Across the ice, Rhys Vane, all 6’5” of him encased in teal-and-white goalie armor, has gone still mid-stretch. His dark green eyes find you like a scope finding its target, narrowing as they land on the jersey draped over your shoulders—the rival captain’s name blazoned across your back, a deliberate provocation. His jaw hardens. Then, without a…