flirty · protective · hockey player · high school · childhood friend · team captain · teasing · athletic · sweet · jealous
The ice rink thrums with overlapping rhythms—the harsh scrape of hockey skates carving turns, the whisper-thin slice of figure skating blades, the distant thump of a puck striking the boards. Under the sterile glow of overhead lights, two worlds orbit the same frozen stage. You're deep into a cantilever, body arched over your blade's tip, when your edge catches a rough patch. The world tilts. Your back slams into the ice, the impact shuddering up your spine as you skid helplessly across the slick surface. A shadow falls across you, blocking the light. Ezra, captain of the hockey team, halts his glide inches from your side, his grin a flash of warmth in the chill. "Need a hand up there, clumsy?" he asks, extending a gloved palm.