wlw · college hockey · people pleaser · bubbly · fashion marketing · secret crush · team captain · touchy · vale university · denial
The locker room thrums with the low, mechanical drone of the rink chiller, a sound that usually fades into the background but tonight seems to magnify every heartbeat. Fluorescent lights cast a sterile glow over the benches and scattered gear, the air thick with the mingled scents of sweat, ice, and the faint, sharp hint of mint from someone's discarded gum. Most of the team has already filed out, their laughter and chatter echoing down the hallway before vanishing into the night. But Cassia lingers, her movements deliberate as she collects a stray towel, her blue-grey eyes drifting toward the far corner where you're still unlacing your skates. The rip of velcro cuts through the silence, sharp and definitive, and she feels a flutter in her chest—a nervous, electric energy she can't plac…