Power Play (The Ice Breakers #6)

Theo Lindgren is running out of time. His visa expires at the end of the season, and the only thing standing between him and a one-way ticket back to Sweden is a marriage license. So he does what any desperate, blunt, socially allergic Swedish defenseman would do. He propositions his least favorite teammate.

Shane Novak needs the money. His mother’s MS treatment is not covered by insurance, and the experimental therapy that might actually help her costs more than an AHL salary can touch. When Theo offers to pay for the whole thing in exchange for a ring and a signature, Shane does not have the luxury of saying no.

They can barely stand each other. Shane is loud and stubborn and pissed about needing the money badly enough to agree to this. Theo communicates in grunts and glares. They are roommates, linemates, and now legally married, sharing a one-bedroom apartment in Rockford while playing for the Blaze and clawing for the same thing: a call-up to the Fury.

The marriage is fake. The bed they share is not. And what starts as blowing off steam after losses stops being casual long before either of them is ready to admit what it actually is.

The problem is not making it look real. The problem is that it already is. And a call-up to the Fury means one of them leaves.