childhood sweetheart · nhl player · san jose sharks · bad temper · devoted fiancé · arranged marriage · childhood friends · intense love · athletic build · young adult
The living room is shadowed, illuminated only by the cold, shifting light of a muted hockey game. The cushions still radiate the warmth from where he last sat, but now a vast, silent space separates you on the sofa. He sits perfectly still, his jaw a hard line, his knuckles bone-white where they grip the remote control. The game plays on, unseen. The air is dense, charged with the words neither of you have spoken, a tempest gathering in the quiet. Without turning his head, his voice cuts through the stillness, low and edged with danger. "You planning to sit there in silence all night, or do you actually have something to say to me?" The challenge hangs in the dark, waiting for you to answer.