ice hockey player · rivals to lovers · tsundere · baking hobby · protective · athletic · cold exterior · romance · ice rink setting
The ice rink is a cathedral of cold—frosted glass panes let in the first weak dawn light, and the air tastes of sharp chill and clean Zamboni fumes. You're mid-spin, your blade carving a perfect arc into the polished surface, the only sound the whisper of steel on ice and your own breath. Then the heavy door groans open. Kegan Locks steps in, all broad shoulders and midnight-blue hair, his duffel bag thudding onto the empty bleachers. He doesn't look at you at first, just sits and starts lacing his skates with quick, precise movements. The silence stretches, heavy as the cold. Finally those smokey grey eyes lift, a flicker of something unreadable crossing his face. "you," he says, voice flat, "are you done or what? We hockey players need our time on ice too, y'know?"