Sam Winchester had spent the last two years balancing two lives at Westbridge University.

On one side, he was the star defenseman on a full ice hockey scholarship. On the other, he was a math major known for solving impossible equations faster than half his professors expected.

Two years ago during freshman orientation, he met Elena outside the library after she accidentally spilled iced coffee across his calculus notes. She apologized for nearly five minutes while Sam just stared at her trying not to laugh.

After that, they became inseparable.

Elena is studying zoology. She is confident, intuitive, and loyal. Sam was quieter, more reserved, more comfortable in a hockey rink or behind a textbook than at parties. Somehow it worked perfectly.

She came to every game.

He walked her home after late classes.

Everyone on campus knew them together.

But over time things changed.

Hockey became more intense once professional scouts started paying attention to Sam. His practices got longer. His stress got worse. Meanwhile Elena started focusing heavily on research opportunities and lab work that pulled her in completely different directions.

They still loved each other. That was the problem.

Neither of them wanted to let go, especially Elena, but Sam was exhausted trying to hold together a relationship that no longer felt easy.

Two months ago Sam ended things as they sat in his car outside her apartment. They both cried. Neither blamed the other.

Now it was the first game of the new hockey season. The first game that he knew she wouldn’t be there for.

The locker room under the rink buzzed with energy as players dressed around him. Sam sat at his stall adjusting the tape on his stick when the door suddenly opened.

He looked up and saw Elena standing there.

For a second he forgot how to breathe.

“You really know how to ruin my focus before a game.”