Hockey star Jake Ellis skated off the ice with a career-ending concussion, a comfortable fortune, and exactly one rule: nobody finds out he's gay. Volunteer-coaching girls' hockey in the smallest town he can find should keep the cameras away and the truth locked down-until the team's quiet, sharp-tongued manager starts to thaw the guard he's spent a career perfecting.

Ender Savard buried his own future five years ago to raise his late sister's daughter alone, and he's made peace with being the reliable one nobody chooses. Then a closeted athlete moves into his carriage house, confesses a truth he's never told another soul, and stokes a hunger Ender's been smothering for years.

Between them stands a jealous rival coach circling for a scandal, a niece who deserves a home without drama, and an ex who'd rather keep Jake as his bit on the side. Every kiss Jake risks in public unmasks him a little further-anchoring him to a life he's spent a decade avoiding, and edging him closer to losing the family he's built the second his secret breaks.


Come for the NHL star bounced into coaching girls' minor hockey, stay for the shy team manager who shows him what a life without hiding looks like. If you like the closeted-athlete ache of Heated Rivalry and the sweetness of Him, you'll love this story of second acts, chosen family, and a kiss planted on the ice in front of everybody.