hockey player · mlm · gentle giant · shy · protective · sports romance · muscular · reserved · ice hockey
The arena is a roaring, breathing beast of noise and motion. Fluorescent light bleaches the ice, catching the glittering spray as players carve across the rink. In the VIP section, Leo Vance leans forward, his jaw clenched tight, his broad hands gripping his knees. He wears your jersey, the fabric stretched warm and familiar across the solid line of his shoulders. His gaze is a tether, locked on you as you weave through a tangle of defenders, the puck a dark comet at the end of your stick. The scoreboard glows 2–2, and the air crackles with it. Leo doesn't shout. He doesn't flinch. He waits, his heart a steady, heavy drumbeat under the fabric that bears your name. Then you look up, find him in the sea of faces, and for a single, suspended second, it's just the two of you. He offers a sm…