Chapter 1
CHAPTER
ONE
ZEKE
The stadium erupts into chaos as Roman weaves past two defenders before sending the puck clean into the top corner of the net, slamming home the championship-winning goal.
Their goalie didn’t even move.
The red light flashes behind the net, the buzzer blares, and the arena explodes.
My teammates flood the ice in celebration, sticks flying, gloves scattered around like confetti, with screams echoing through the rafters.
But Roman and Jasper? They gravitate toward each other first. They throw their arms around each other, and I reach them seconds later, pulled into their orbit like I always am.
There’s no kiss, not here. But the way Roman buries his face into my shoulder, while Jasper’s hand finds mine and squeezes tight, says everything we can’t. It’s all the affection we can risk, but for now, it’s enough.
I glance up to see Coach getting tossed around like a rag doll, laughing his ass off with tears in his eyes as we all celebrate. The crowd roars, and there’s a wall of sound and flashing lights, but for just a second, all I can hear is our heartbeats syncing up.
When we finally break apart, my eyes scan the crowd, searching for the other piece of me that sets my soul ablaze.
And when I find her seat, the one she sits in for every game, there she is.
Navy blue eyes collide with mine, hitting me with the force of a body check.
They pierce straight through me, reaching places only Roman and Jasper have claim to, but I’d carve out a new space for her.
Addison Hope has been living in my head rent-free since she sat down beside me in the one class we shared. Her beautiful eyes and shy smile knocked me on my ass, and I was gone before she even said a word.
“My daughter, Addison, will be helping out with team management this season. She asked to get involved, and I’m trusting that you boys don’t need to be reminded about the rules.”
Just like that, she went from potentially attainable to completely untouchable.
Off-limits in every way that matters. The kind of forbidden that makes you ache just thinking about it, because everyone knows the golden rule of hockey: You don’t fuck around with the coach’s daughter. No matter how bad you want to.
We settled for friendship instead, and it’s beautiful in its own right.
We have a connection I’d fight to protect, but god, the number of times I’ve caught myself wondering what it would be like to kiss her.
And it’s not just me—I’ve seen the way Roman still watches her when she comes to practices, and how Jasper’s whole body tenses up whenever she laughs at one of his jokes.
We’ve all got our own Addison Hope-shaped complications, carefully tucked away where Coach can’t see them.
“We fucking did it, baby,” Jasper whispers against my ear, pulling me into what, from the outside, probably looks like the most platonic bro hug imaginable.
No one would ever guess that only a few hours ago, he had one hand twisted in my hair and the other braced against the locker while he fucked my mouth.
Not exactly my smartest move, but Jasper’s a reckless little fucker with a hard-on for risk and zero fear of consequences.
The number of times we’ve almost been caught is honestly ridiculous.
The back of the equipment room, the showers, and even in the damn trainer’s office.
He gets off on the danger.
I get off on him.
Now he’s smiling like butter wouldn’t melt, with his arm slung casually around my shoulder, while I can still taste him in the back of my throat.
“We’re getting drafted together. I can feel it,” I say as the three of us—Roman, Jasper, and me—stand shoulder to shoulder, soaking in the thunder of the crowd.
“It’s all three of us or nothing. The scouts just need to understand we’re lethal on the ice together, and we don’t fucking split.” Roman’s deep voice is firm, not giving an inch.
“Damn right we are,” Jasper adds, before his elbow finds my ribs. “Well, well, look who’s here.” I follow his gaze to find Addie in the crowd again, beaming with her friends.
“Come on, you knew she’d be here,” Roman says, brushing it off like he always does when Addie comes up.
“She’s here for her dad,” I say, but there’s something in the way she looks at me sometimes—at all of us—that makes me wonder if maybe…
But no, Coach made it crystal clear: hands off his daughter.
Not that Roman ever listened. He and Addie have a history that predates the little three-way we found ourselves in. He has his own special brand of torture when it comes to her, which runs deeper than Jasper’s or mine. What happened between them left scars that have yet to fully heal.
“Well, she certainly isn’t here for you, Rome,” Jasper teases.
Even though he’s poking the bear, he always knows exactly when Roman needs the distraction.
“Fuck you.” Roman laughs, shoving Jasper playfully before flipping him off and skating away. But even as the team celebrates around him, I see the way his eyes keep drifting back to the stands.
For three bi guys who’ve sworn off everyone else, Addie’s always been our exception.
We don’t sleep around.
No drunk mistakes.
No meaningless shit.
Just us three, locked tight.
Unbreakable.
But Addison Hope has always been the wild card—the one who could break every rule we’ve made and somehow still be exactly what we need.
You’d have to be an idiot not to see how beautiful she is, but that’s not what hooked me. What got me was the friendship we built over time and the way she let me see every version of her.
I got the real, unfiltered Addison, and that’s when the attraction really took hold.
Jasper’s been caught in her orbit too. I catch him making her laugh and see how she leans into him as if he’s the safe place where she can breathe a little easier.
Jasper has this way about him—one I’ve felt myself since the day we met—where he can take your worst day and turn it into your best without even trying. Just pure Jasper magic.
The three of us walk into the party like we just won the fucking world.
Because we kind of did.
State champs.
There’s music, sweat, and the buzz of a hundred bodies celebrating us, but none of it matters when I see Addison in the corner of the living room, half lit by the shitty string lights, standing way too close to Mikey King.
She’s laughing, sipping something from a plastic cup, and her head is tilted slightly to the side in a way that makes her long blonde hair cascade over her shoulder.
Mikey’s our goalie. He used to be great, but now he’s just a lazy fuck, coasting on the scraps of whatever talent he had left. He’s overrated as hell and a walking ego with a dick for a brain.
But Addie knows exactly what kind of asshole he is, which makes it even more infuriating to watch her feed his ego with that smile—the one that makes her eyes crinkle in the corners and should be aimed at anyone but him.
“Nope, fuck that.” Jasper’s gone before I can stop him, stalking over to where Addie’s cornered, and in one smooth motion, he hoists her over his shoulder.
“What the fuck, Hastings?” Mikey’s voice cracks with anger as Jasper strolls deeper into the house Mikey shares with his twin, Mitch.
Pretty sure their parents were high as fuck when they picked those names.
“You think something’s gonna happen there?” Roman watches Jasper and Addie disappear into the crowd.
“Like it hasn’t been almost happening for a long time now?”
“What I wouldn’t give to watch,” Roman mutters, and there’s enough heat in his voice to make my skin prickle.
“Ever thought about telling her about us?”
“Nope.” Roman’s answer comes fast. “Me and her—we’re never crossing that line again, but I see how she looks at you both.” His voice drops lower, rougher. “It’s up to you guys what you do, but I’m not getting pushed out for anyone.”
I’ve seen the way she still looks at him when she thinks no one’s watching. If he gave her the word, she’d fall right back into him, no questions asked.
He starts to step toward the house, but I catch his wrist.
My Roman.
Captain of our team and the strongest guy I know, but he’s an emotional fortress. His walls are thick, doors are locked, and the windows are boarded up. But I’ve taken the time to learn exactly where all the cracks are.
“Hey.” My fingers tighten around his wrist, and he turns, dragging a hand down his jaw the way he does when he’s fighting himself. “Never gonna happen. You’re mine. You’re ours. That doesn’t change. Not now. Not ever.”
His eyes fall to my mouth, dark with want, and fuck, I’d give anything to kiss him right here and let him take what he needs from me.
Roman’s love isn't soft.
It's sex, skin, and the raw honesty of bodies moving together.
It’s bruises on hips and fingers tangled in hair.
It’s how he speaks the words he can’t always say out loud.
“You said it yourself. It’s all three of us or nothing. End of.”
I press my thumb against the hollow of his throat, feeling his pulse race under my touch as I try to ground him and smooth out whatever darkness just chased the light from his face.
Some days, I think I could spend forever learning to read the silent language of Roman’s fears. I want to understand every signal, every unspoken plea, and answer them all until he finally believes he’s safe.
“Come on, let’s get drunk,” I say, and Roman’s mouth curves into that devastating smile. “And when we get home, I’ll show you exactly how much you’ve earned the attention I’m gonna give your cock.”
“You’re a motherfucker,” he growls, palming himself through his jeans.
The way he gets worked up so easily—yeah, this man owns me.
We find Addie and Jasper in the kitchen, and of course, he’s got her laughing. But that’s Jasper—our joker, the glue that holds us all together. Right now, he’s doing what he does best by keeping her entertained and, more importantly, far away from dickheads like Mikey King.