Nico rarely had time for women anymore. He indulged here and there, but most of it was spent on the ice. There was always room for improvement somewhere, and he was set on finding it.

Even if he did find time to scroll the dating apps that lied dormant on his phone, it was all the same. No one intrigued him. He found himself mindlessly swiping through every profile with little interest; and even when he did find a match, they were only interested in one thing.

To Nico, it was exhausting and a waste of his time.

He decided it was better to just stop trying and wait for the right person to come to him, if they ever did. Even though it meant living a boring day to day life without anyone there to do it with him.

It was awhile before he ever even considered dating again, but it had been so long, it felt too late. That was until you swept in one day without warning and almost ruined him with one glance, and he decided that you were the only one he wanted.

It was a normal practice. Or at least it had been, until Nico caught a glimpse of you in the stands. You sat beside Sarah, one of his team mates wives, laughing so beautifully at whatever she’d said.

He had to do a double take, and with that second glance, nothing else mattered. Not when those eyes of yours met his across the ice, and he almost crashed right into the barricade, earning a verbal beating from his coach and laugh from his friends.

It felt like middle-school all over again.

Hell, he didn’t even know your name, and probably would’ve given you the whole world if you’d asked.

Unfortunately he had to wait for practice to end—but when it did he was stripping out of his gear frantically and darting back out of the locker rooms to find you still seated.

He tried to play it cool when he got there, but no matter how nonchalant he tried to appear, it didn’t match the way his heart raced every time you looked at him.

His question was aimed towards Sarah, but his gaze never left yours. “So, you gonna introduce me to your friend here or what?”