IS

Y/N hates Macklin Celebrini on sight, Macklin is deeply offended by it, and their enemies-to-friends-to-maybe-something-more journey gets a lot more complicated when they discover they've already loved each other once before. Better description: Macklin Celebrini has never had a problem getting people to like him. Until Y/N. One sarcastic comment, one badly timed joke, and suddenly she's looking at him like he's personally responsible for every annoyance in her life. She thinks he's arrogant, cocky, and way too aware of the fact that he's an NHL player. Macklin thinks she's judgmental, stubborn, and somehow always ready with a comeback that leaves him speechless. The worst part? They keep running into each other. At team parties. At restaurants. At friends' apartments. Somehow every time Macklin turns around, Y/N is there, rolling her eyes at something he said. His teammates find it hilarious. Y/N finds it exhausting. And Macklin? Macklin finds himself looking for her in every room. As weeks turn into months, their arguments slowly become conversations. Conversations become inside jokes. And somewhere along the way, Y/N realizes that the guy she thought was an egotistical hockey star is actually funny, loyal, and far kinder than he lets people see. Then one random story from childhood changes everything. Because the more they talk, the more familiar each other seem. A street in Vancouver. A treehouse. A pair of inseparable best friends who promised they'd stay in touch forever. Until one family moved away. Until one little boy disappeared from one little girl's life. And suddenly the person they've spent months trying not to like is the person they've been missing for years. Now they're left figuring out what's harder: pretending they don't have feelings for each other, or admitting that maybe fate has been pushing them together ever since they were kids.