Playing The Long Game On Ice

When nineteen-year-old rookie winger Aiden Cole gets called up to the prestigious Northbridge University hockey team, he expects brutal practices, brutal hits, and brutal competition-not the slow burn of falling for the team's untouchable star. Reserved, hard-working, and desperate to prove he belongs, Aiden has one plan: keep his head down, rack up points, and never, ever risk the secret that could blow up his career before it starts-he likes men.
Luca Hart, the team's golden boy captain and NHL's next big thing, has his own rulebook: no distractions, no drama, and definitely no teammates. But when Aiden walks into the locker room with sharp cheekbones, a nervous smile, and a wrist shot that makes the coaches swear, Luca's legendary control starts to crack. Forced together on the same line and in a campus mentorship program, their chemistry on the ice becomes impossible to ignore-and even harder to hide.
As stolen glances turn into late-night practices, and bruised bodies learn to trust each other in ways neither expected, Aiden and Luca find themselves playing a different kind of long game-one where every choice is a risk and every touch could cost them everything. Between ruthless teammates, a homophobic rival, and scouts watching their every move, they'll have to decide if love is worth rewriting the rules.