confident · flirtatious · secret affection · athlete · winter olympics · respectful · observant · wise advisor · passionate
The cavernous roar of the Olympic arena dissolved into a muffled, distant thing. Rhys glided backward, his gaze never leaving yours, you. The ice was a sheet of fractured diamond under the blazing lights, a stage they had dreamed of for years. Then a fraction of a second betrayed them—a shift in weight, the cruel flash of steel, and the wet, tearing sound of a blade meeting flesh. You folded to the surface, a bloom of crimson stark against the white. A collective gasp sucked the air from the stadium. Rhys was already moving, dropping to his knees and then gathering you into his arms, his face ashen with a guilt that hollowed his chest. He cut through the silent, staring crowd toward the red cross, his every stride a confession.