Ryland Zervudachi is determined to pull the Columbus Pilots back into the playoffs after last season’s crushing loss, yet the victory he still cannot claim is the heart of Kyle Dabbs.
Kyle, captain of the Vermont Trailblazers, guards a quieter life built on his career and the children’s books he writes for kids who, like him, grew up under a father’s verbal abuse.
Flashy, loud, and happiest in the spotlight, Ryland is exactly the kind of disruption Kyle does not want.
An untimely appendectomy leaves Kyle stuck at home, and Ryland—sidelined by his own injury—arrives to help, filling the days with midnight Scrabble, pumpkin-carving mishaps, and talks that expose what both men have kept hidden.
With chemistry rising and old defenses giving way, they must choose whether to risk their hearts on something greater than a championship.
