Carolina Comets

My contract is up with the Carolina Comets this year, and I need to get it together if I want to stay with the team. I need relaxation, not a relationship. But when I’m scrolling on a dating app and stumble across the pretty girl who almost ran me over, I know I can’t let her walk away this time. Harper is funny, smart, and doesn’t care about hockey. I’m not supposed to be focusing on anything other than my career, yet I can’t get Harper off my mind. I know I shouldn’t fall for her…but I think I already have.

What happens in Vegas doesn't always stay there. I would know. I'm coming home with a brand-new ring on my finger. My wife: Ryan Bell. We're polar opposites. She's sunshine and happiness. I'm grumpy and scarred—literally. We could get it annulled and no one would be the wiser. Only problem? We posted about it online, and it's already making headlines. I can't afford to get that kind of attention and tank my career, and Ryan needs my help too. We make a plan: stay married for one year, play our roles, and divorce amicably at the end. No harm, no foul.

"I'm pregnant." That's what my teammate's sister-in-law told me after our one-night stand. I didn't expect to see Hollis again, let alone end up raising a child with her. We set some ground rules—we'll raise the baby together, but that's it. No relationship, no future, and definitely no kissing. But the more time we spend together, the harder it is to keep track of where the lines were once drawn. I'm known for my one-timer on and off the ice, but this game with Hollis just got a lot more complicated...

Emilia Anderson is the team’s social media manager, and there are strict rules about not fraternizing with the staff. It doesn’t matter that we already accidentally broke them—we can’t let it happen again. Besides, my time in the NHL is winding down, and this is my last shot at winning the Cup. I need to focus on the game, not some girl I have no business chasing. She’s ten years younger than me. She’s the assistant coach’s niece. And she works for the team. She’s off-limits…and too hard to resist.

Scoring on the ice? Piece of cake. Scoring off it? Well, there’s a reason I’m still a virgin. I’m not entirely clueless about women, though I do tend to put my foot in my mouth around them far too often. Like I did with Scout, the donut maker I stupidly introduced myself to despite visiting her truck for years. Maybe my teammates have a reason to call me the dumb one, but I’m determined to prove them all wrong—Scout included.

The Carolina Comets are currently on a record-breaking run, and I intend to keep it that way. This means the last thing I need is distractions, but my mother didn't get that memo. She's getting married, and after the fiasco I caused at her last wedding, I'm required to bring a date. That would be easy, except for one little thing: I don't date. So why is the only person I want to take a single mom who can't stand me? We're a horrible match, and it makes no sense that I'd be into her. But the more time we spend together, the more it's starting to look like this might be one game I can't win.

To my fans, I'm known as Ivan Fitzgerald. To my teammates, I'm just Fitz. To the girl I've been talking to online, I'm ShootsAndScores. There's no doubt in my mind that the woman on the other side of the screen is completely out of my league. Why wouldn't she be? Sure, I'm a professional hockey player, but that doesn't mean anything when I'm shy and awkward in the most basic social situations, and she's a fiery vixen who oozes sex appeal.