A hockey player on the ice. A unique guy in the stands. They come from different worlds, but a single glance across the rink is all it takes to change everything. A game that's more than just a game.

"Do you ever get scared of being happy?" He asked softly, also pretty tired. I kept my eyes closed as I answered, my fingers softly drawing circles on his chest. "All the time. I used to a lot more, but, the downfalls seem a lot less daunting now that I have someone to free-fall with," I replied, and I looked up to see him smile a little at that, "We're just dancing in the rain these days.. there's no need to be afraid of the inevitable clouds that are gonna pop up." • • • College. Officially a new start. Crystal can already feel the clean slate and new opportunities like a breath of fresh air. She's finally ready to move in towards a brighter future. She knows hard times will inevitably come throughout her life, but that no longer scares her. However, life does have a way of throwing the most unexpected of curveballs at you... Especially when you least are prepared for it. [BOOK TWO OF 'HOPELESSLY DEVOTED' SERIES] • • • !!! [ TRIGGER WARNING ] !!! • suicide, suicidal concepts • domestic abuse, sexual assault • substance abuse, alcoholism, addiction • anxiety, PTSD, panic attacks • strong language and mature scenes • • •

𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮. 𝘛𝘸𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘢 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘢𝘭 : 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳'𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱. 𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘪𝘧 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘺. 𝘔𝘢𝘹 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦. 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘢 1 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥. 𝘈𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵...𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴. ------------ ❥ 𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬 ❥ 𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐬/𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 ❥ 𝐠𝐚𝐲/𝐛𝐢 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 originally published in september 2024 !