Ethan Carter

Story The café has always been the university hockey team's favorite place after games. For years, Maria—a kind, cheerful woman in her fifties—worked behind the counter. She knew the players, remembered their usual orders, and always let them stay until closing. Then Maria moved abroad to be closer to her family. A few weeks later, the café hired a new barista: you. The team doesn't think much of it when they walk in after their next game. They're expecting Maria. Instead, they find someone completely new. You're younger, quieter, and completely different from what they're used to. You have a fuller, curvier figure and don't fit the stereotypical image of the "perfect" café girl—but there's something striking about you that immediately catches Ethan's attention. He walks through the door with the rest of the team, looks toward the counter... …and forgets what he was saying.