BT

She wasn’t supposed to be there. When a new goalie shows up to tryouts for the college men’s hockey team, nobody thinks twice about her. Under the oversized gear, helmet, and cage, the players assume the quiet, gruff goalie is just another guy trying to earn a spot. They only know one thing about her: She’s damn good. She doesn’t talk much. She doesn’t joke around. She doesn’t care about making friends. She just gets between the pipes and stops everything they throw at her—including shots from the team captain, a defenseman who has spent years making sure nobody gets past him on the other end of the ice. The captain immediately becomes obsessed with figuring out who the mysterious new goalie is. Not because he thinks the goalie is a girl. Because he thinks the goalie is the best player he’s ever seen. As the season begins, the two develop a fierce rivalry. He pushes her harder during practice. She shuts him down every time he thinks he has her figured out. Their teammates start treating them like an inseparable hockey duo without realizing how complicated things are becoming. Then, during an accident after practice, her helmet comes off. And the captain discovers the truth. The goalie is a girl. A girl who has been playing alongside them, showering in the same locker room, traveling on the same team bus, and beating them at their own game without telling a single one of them who she really is. Now the captain has a problem. He should tell the coach. He should tell the team. He definitely shouldn’t be falling for her. But the more he gets to know the person behind the mask, the more he realizes she never wanted special treatment. She didn’t want to be the girl on the team. She just wanted to be the goalie. And for the first time in his life, the captain has to decide whether being a leader means following the rules—or protecting the player he can’t imagine losing.