The granddaughter of the teams owner and a veteran forward in his final season playing in the NHL manage to entangle themselves in a clusterpuck neither of them ever saw coming in this age-gap, surprise pregnancy, he falls first, hockey love story.
I came to Vegas to play a final season of NHL hockey and for one last chance at The Cup.
—Tripp Blackburn, VEGAS CRUSH
I’ve known Lila Marchmont-Terry since she was born—when I was thirteen years old.
Despite decades of our two families being in each other’s lives, I don’t have many memories of Lila until she was older, probably because I was at the very beginning of what would become a long and successful hockey career at the same time she was learning to walk and talk.
A cute little girl with long, dark, hair busy living her very best little-girl-life is what I remember.
A cocky, pro athlete chasing pucks around the NHL is probably what she remembers, if she even noticed me at all.
We last met four years ago when she was heading off for her second year of college and I was heading into my twelfth season in the NHL.
I came to Vegas for one last chance at getting my name engraved on The Cup with a championship team because, after this season, I’ll be hanging up my skates for good.
Lila’s in Vegas for a gap year interning at her grandfather’s corporation because, after this season, she’ll be heading off to grad school for Sports Management.
Note that her grandfather owns The Vegas Crush—the team I’ve just signed a lucrative, one-year contract deal to finish out my NHL playing career.
Lila is Max Terry’s only granddaughter and she just turned twenty-three.
I’m the long-time family friend who turned thirty-six seven months ago.
Now that our paths have crossed again, I have discovered that Lila doesn’t like me very much these days.
But that didn’t matter while we were stranded in a hotel room with only one bed, and we did something we should’ve never done even though the itch was there for both of us.
The same itch we ended up scratching repeatedly after our clothes sort of [shrugs] fell off.
And thats how I knocked up Max Terry’s granddaughter who usually despises me when our clothes are on.
It’s a whole cluster now—one urgent CLUSTERPUCK of a situation.
But I’m sure Ive got this one figured out.
First, Ill convince Lila that she doesn’t despise me nearly as much as she once thought, and then I’ll make her understand that theres nobody Ill ever share my pucks withbut her.
**CLUSTERPUCK can be read as a complete standalone sports romance. Each book in the Vegas Crush series is about a different couple.
