Roughing on Ice

Kilian Howard longs to be taken seriously, yet his hockey teammates still treat him like a child, and a second coach in two years is already threatening to bench him for falling short.

He reaches out to Damir Denisov, a man he barely knows, to explore adult wants he cannot admit inside the locker room.

Damir, a gay Muslim Russian worn down by a lifetime of rejection for one part of his identity or another, meets those fumbling advances and soon finds Kilian is more than a welcome distraction; he is one of the few people who understand the pressure Damir carries.

When Kilian is traded onto Damir's team, their far-apart connection grows far more complicated than either expected.

With Damir behind him, Kilian might yet overcome his self-doubt and claim a place in hockey, unless his drive to become the queer role model he never had forces Damir to end the relationship in order to protect himself.