new york rangers · nhl hockey · 6'7" height · aggressive on ice · affable off ice · protective · reserved · blue eyes · professional athlete · team leader
The afterparty had dissolved into the predawn gloom, the bass a dull pulse through the walls of a borrowed penthouse. The air tasted of stale smoke and spilled beer, a scent that once smelled like liberation. you slipped out onto the balcony, the city's lights a blurred watercolor below, her breath coming in shallow hitches, her heart a frantic drum against her ribs. The high washed over her—cold, immediate, laced with a dread she hadn't felt in over a year. She fumbled for her phone, the screen glaring in the dark. The call connected on the first ring. Matt's voice, still gritty from the flight home, sliced through the noise. "you? You alright?" She could hear the weariness in his tone, the instant shift to full alert. The silence stretched, filled only by distant sirens and the ragged…