The world never granted me much. No warm and cozy home to rest my head, no loving parents to cheer at my games or remember my birthday, and certainly no finer things in life. Just a damn good arm to throw a football and a hunger inside of me that I hoped would lead me straight to the NFL.

From a young age, the only thing in life I've ever taken seriously is hockey. I'm not the guy anyone—besides family and teammates—can count on. This is all true. At least, until a certain curly-haired, blue-eyed goddess comes to me looking for an easy hookup. And hook her up I do. But what's supposed to be a one-night stand doesn't stop at one night. What's meant to be easy sure as hell gets complicated fast. It becomes clear that Addison LaConte is just as much my savior as she is my demise.

Football is my everything. I live, eat, breathe the sport. But when I transfer to McKee University to escape the distractions that nearly cost me my future in the NFL, I’m faced with another consequence: retake and pass the writing class I failed at my last college, or lose any chance I have at making it big. That’s where fellow senior Beckett Wood—gorgeous, stubborn, and just my type—comes in. She’s the key to my success in this class… but the price of her help is a fake relationship, and I never do things halfway.

Bryce Matthews doesn't do the whole nice boyfriend thing. Chocolates and flowers - girls can forget all that. And he certainly doesn't care about the gossip and rumors that follow him at school and around town. If anything, the talk amuses him. Bryce isn't lacking in confidence. He knows himself, and he knows his limits. One of those hard limits is Madison Issac. Bryce can never have her, and he's perfectly fine with that. Sometimes the fantasy is better than the reality anyway.

The headline says it all, and my bosses are over the moon when the opportunity of a lifetime lands in my lap. Of course, they aren’t aware that I’ve already met Vince Cool at an all-star gala—and that we were at each other’s throats the entire time.

Pine River was supposed to be a new start for me. And it was, especially attending school with my three overprotective cousins, who were the triplets at the top of the social hierarchy. Except they weren’t alone there, and the first day when I came to school, I saw him. Scout Raiden. Tall. Lean. Tattooed. Mesmerizing. He was a golden god with dark and piercing eyes—looking like he wanted to eat me up. The feeling was mutual, and that was a problem.

I should have known I was in trouble when I backed my old, beat-up truck into the shiny Range Rover. The driver looked like a gorgeous fallen angel–one who’d been booted right out of paradise for being a giant prick. Good thing I’ll never have to see him again.

Knox Maguire is the king of our college campus, the star offensive tight end on the football team. He is the complete opposite of me in every way. I'm quiet. He's loud. I'm shy. He's definitely not. Everyone loves him. No one knows me. Fresh out of a breakup, I don't really trust him, and why should I? Knox is the ultimate player. When I become his English tutor, I tell myself we need to keep things between us strictly business. Watching my mother deal with my ex-athlete father long ago taught me to stay far away from that type of man. Yet Knox is impossible to resist.

I’m a full time single dad. A former NFL player turned coach, tasked with turning around a college team full of kids who either don’t take it seriously or are determined to get injured. I will absolutely not be falling for my new neighbor.

I had a foolproof plan. Finish college playing the best sport on earth. Hockey. Get drafted by an NHL team. Make my senator father at least a little proud of me. I was on track to do just that…until Violet Reece and I collided. Literally.

What's that saying? When life hands you lemons... What if I don't want to make lemonade? What if I want to pummel them into non-existence? Anything is better than admitting how desperately I want a taste of that sweet lemonade. That's exactly how I felt when my college assignment threw me in the direction of Miller Cain. My body screams for him while my brain warns me to run for the hills. He's the captain of the ice hockey team with a cocky reputation. He's a sweet talker and the bad boy promising me the ride of my life.

In the high-pressure world of varsity hockey at Wittmore U, being the team intern means more than overseeing grueling workouts and injuries. It's the colossal egos of the players that truly test my patience. Even if they did see me as something more than another locker room fixture created to tend to their bodies, my boss has made one thing clear:

Dancing on bar tops means the night is going great. Exiting the bar hauled over the shoulder of Heston University's infamous hockey captain? Not my idea of a good time. But my would-be knight would have to do. I needed an escape route from my brother… his biggest rival. Easton Blake is the perfect reminder of why I avoid hockey players. Cocky. Frustratingly sexy. Accustomed to every girl in his orbit falling for his charm. With his sultry smile that tells me he knows all the ways to make girls come undone with his touch, I'm almost the next score on his stats.

Zanders: Chicago hockey isn't complete without me—everyone's favorite player to hate. I know my role, and I play it well. In fact, I thoroughly enjoy spending the majority of my game time in the penalty box before leaving the arena with a new girl on my arm each night. What I don't like is the new flight attendant on our team's private plane. She works for me, not the other way around. But I'll be sure to remind her of that, and I can guarantee, by the end of the season, she'll be begging to quit her job.

It was supposed to be the best day of my life. But the second I got up, things started to fall apart. The kitchen just caught on fire. Flowers were from a funeral. My bride-to-be just had an allergic reaction, leaving by ambulance. Oh, and my ex-girlfriend just walked into the church. They say you have to see the signs when they are right in front of you. Maybe she was just mine to have.