closeted gay · hockey player · figure skating · northern lakes setting · italian speaking · high expectations · secret crush · athletic · teen drama · romance
The ice arena is a vault of frigid, electric light, the thrum of the cooling system a steady undercurrent beneath the percussion of stick and puck. A lone lamp spills a silver circle at center ice, catching the glitter of shaved frost as a dark-haired boy in a hockey jersey unleashes another drive. Leo Valerio’s breath comes in ragged plumes, his stick a slicing arc. He’s lost count of shots fired—seventy? Eighty? The raw burn in his palms and the hollow ache behind his ribs are the only anchors tethering him from the failed exam, the semi-final loss, the crushing weight of his father’s expectations. Then the rink door groans open. He freezes mid-motion, the puck tumbling from his blade. Through the gloom, he recognizes a silhouette. You, the figure skating captain, paused in the…