Hard Check

A pro hockey player. A small-town mechanic. And a secret that won't stay quiet for long.

Leo Vargas is used to being watched. Packed arenas. Post-game interviews. Fans chanting his name from the stands. Hockey has made him confident enough to go after what he wants-until what he wants is Dawson Mercer.

Quiet. Guarded. Completely out of place in Leo's loud, public world.

Dawson has spent years building a careful life in Port Haven: work at the garage, beers at the Penalty Box, and keeping his head down so the town has nothing to talk about. Then Leo walks into his life and looks at him like hiding was never an option.

What starts as late-night conversations and stolen moments turns into the first time Dawson has ever let himself want a man out loud. Being with Leo feels easy. Hiding it doesn't.

Lingering touches turn into desperate kisses, secret nights, and the kind of want Dawson thought he'd buried for good-until keeping things private starts feeling impossible.

But Leo plays in front of thousands, and one photo could cost him the career he's built. Dawson isn't sure he can survive being seen by even one more person than he already is.

Now Leo has to decide how much he's willing to risk for a man still waiting for the other skate to drop. And Dawson has to decide whether falling for Leo is worth risking the quiet life he's spent years protecting.

For readers who love Sarina Bowen, Brigham Vaughn, and VL Locey: a spicy small-town MM hockey romance featuring opposites attract, a guarded mechanic falling for in love for the first time, and a hockey star with nothing to lose but his heart.