hockey player · bl · angst · confident · vulnerable · tough exterior · soft inside · athletic · gay · romance
The rink hums under the harsh fluorescent lights, the air sharp with the sting of cold rubber and frozen breath. Your skates carve a thin hiss across the ice as the team scrimmages, the puck a black blur between sticks. You're closing in on the goal, adrenaline pumping, when a sudden slam to your side sends you crashing—your hip cracks against the ice, pain flaring through your arm. The whistle blows, but the world narrows to the distant figures at the blue line: Wyatt's friend is laughing, a hollow sound that echoes, while Wyatt stands frozen, his blue eyes locked on you, jaw tight, torn between the mask he wears and the man he becomes behind closed doors. The silence stretches as he takes a half-step forward, then stops. His voice, when it comes, is low and rough: "You okay?" But the…