They never make a rule against falling in love. It’s the first one they break in a steamy romance that spans 7 years.
Everyone knows Sinclair and Kowalski hate each other.
The league counts on it. The Prince and the Rink Rat, hockey’s golden boy against the loudmouth who earned every shift the hard way. Their games sell out. Their handshakes trend. Their rivalry is the best show in the sport.
It’s also the best cover story.
It starts in college, when Riley steals a national title off Nate’s stick, then slips his number into Nate’s pocket. It ignites after their first pro matchup, when Nate turns up at Riley’s hotel to apologize and leaves the next morning having done anything but.
They agree it was a one-time thing. Adrenaline. Rivalry. Nothing more.
They’re both lying.
One night becomes a standing arrangement.
The arrangement gets rules. They bet for honest answers, because honesty is the only thing neither man gives away for free.
They keep score in everything, goals, trophies, who texts first…
except the one game that matters, the one that’s already over even if neither of them will admit it.
Seven seasons. Two trophies. One drawer of stolen keepsakes that says everything they won’t. Because the problem with a rivalry this good is that it works. Nobody suspects that the two best players of their generation can’t stay away from each other. Nobody thinks to ask why.
In this game, somebody always has to lose. Unless, for once in their stubborn lives, they both decide to win.
