by thornicated
Tate Connors has built his entire life on control—of his body, his image, and every emotion he refuses to let surface. As the disciplined, guarded captain of a professional hockey team, he knows how to survive pressure. He knows how to stay invisible. He knows how to keep people out. River Tobias is the opposite: warm, expressive, and completely unprepared for the brutal world he’s been thrown into. When he’s cast in Icebound, a high‑profile hockey drama, he’s assigned to train with Tate… and their worlds collide instantly. What begins as a simple consulting job becomes a slow‑burn unraveling of boundaries, routines, and the walls Tate has spent years building. Training turns into tension. Proximity turns into danger. And one moment of weakness in a locker room changes everything. As filming ramps up and the world starts watching, Tate retreats into fear while River is pushed into visibility. Fame, fandom culture, jealousy, and old survival instincts twist their connection into something fragile and volatile. Every chapter pulls them deeper into a cycle of longing, avoidance, intimacy, and collapse. But love—real love—demands more than chemistry. It demands honesty. Vulnerability. The courage to be seen. And for Tate Connors, that might be the hardest battle he’s ever faced. A slow‑burn queer romance about pressure, identity, emotional damage, and the terrifying work of choosing someone even when the world won’t look away.
