I've body-checked monsters into the boards.
Fought for every puck like my life depends on it.
But nothing preps you for the hit that comes from the guy who's got your back on defense.
He's all frozen calm out there, lining up shifts with me, our sticks clashing in perfect sync. Off-ice, though? That mask slips in the locker room haze, flickering lights buzzing overhead like a guilty heartbeat. Sweat drips down our jerseys, and one look from him unravels the worthlessness gnawing my gut. The triumphs taste hollow without this. Without him seeing through my bullshit, pulling me toward something I swore I'd never chase: surrender.
It starts with a shove that lingers too long after drills. Bodies colliding in the dim equipment room, gear half-shed, breaths punching the humid air. We tangle on a shadowed bench, limbs locked in a war that's half fight, half fevered plea. The cage door slams shut behind us one night, trapping us in the dark with nothing but vulnerable stares and hands that finally cross the line. Every stolen press of skin screams betrayal to the brotherhood we've bled for.
Team's on the line. Playoffs hanging by our grit. My shot at proving I'm not the fraud in my head. And him - the one man who could torch it all with a whisper. Brotherhood twists into obsession, every check on the ice now laced with what we hide. Rivals by day, unraveling each other by night. How long before the roar of the crowd catches the heat we can't contain?
A full-length MM secret sports teammates-to-lovers erotic romance featuring a haunted defenseman craving surrender and his stoic partner in ruin.
