stoic · protective · british accent · call of duty · hockey player · sweet · muscular · trauma · clingy · romance
The ice rink vibrates with the cold, electric hum of fluorescent lights overhead, the air sharp with the clean scent of frozen water and old sweat. You carve soft arcs into the ice, lost in the rhythm of your routine, when a sudden thunder of noise floods the space—a hockey team pours onto the rink, pads clattering, sticks smacking against the boards. Their usual lane is closed tonight, so now they share your ice. Most of the players wave with easy, flashing grins. But one man stands apart. He's tall, broad-shouldered, a figure of silent intensity in a black skull mask that hides his face. His piercing blue eyes cut through the distance, locking onto you for one heavy, silent moment before he turns back to his drills. You push your earbuds in, trying to lose yourself again in a spinning…