Rule #.5: Never Crush on the Captain
Rule #.5: Never Crush on the Captain is a 25,000 word prequel novella that introduces Portia Blake's Hockey Rules series.
The unwritten rule in hockey? Never crush on the captain.
Too bad I’m failing at that.
Single dad Evan McAllister is our adored team captain, attractive, and my all-around amazing former best friend. Oh, he’s straight too. That’s less of a positive for me. I’ve been distancing myself to smother my feelings, but that’s only confused him and totally hasn’t worked.
When a concussion leaves Evan needing care, I step in to help him and his daughter Stella. Evan’s not thrilled with me barging back into his life after I ghosted him, and the more we’re thrust into intimate circumstances, the harder it is for me to keep from blurting my secret.
Rule #1: Never Accidentally Marry Your Teammate
I might have a reputation for partying, but I’ve outdone myself. After drunkenly proposing to my new teammate, Noah, during a wild night out in Vegas, I wake up with a ring on my finger, a husband by my side, and a colossal PR nightmare.
There's no way we want to upset the team's management, and the only way to salvage our careers is to pretend the marriage was intentional. Noah plays along like a pro, and I move him into my Boston penthouse. He just got called up from the AHL, and I might cost him everything.
We’re stuck together for at least a year, navigating public appearances, playing hockey, and living together. In fact, this so doesn’t feel like pretend. But obviously, that’s impossible: we’re both straight. Aren’t we?
Rule #2: Never Join a Christmas Dating Show
People are always surprised I’m single, but it’s never bothered me. As a pro hockey player, I’d rather spend nights off watching Sebastian Archer host dating shows than hang out at grimy sports bars to flirt with puck bunnies.
But when my teammates sign me up as the leading man on Seeking Mr. Right: Christmas Edition, my quiet life disappears. Instead of cozy nights in, I’m parading around Boston on festive dates with gorgeous women I’m supposed to be falling for.
The only problem? The person I can’t stop thinking about is the show's jock-despising, way too attractive host whom I sort of, kind of know.
I’m supposed to find a wife. We’re being watched by millions of people, including my team’s management.
And I’m straight. Obviously.
Probably.
Rule #3: Never Fake Marry the Coach's Son
I’ve spent three years keeping my crush on Dmitri Volkov strictly professional. I can’t afford to think about his wicked smile or the way his dark hair falls over his eyes. He’s my father’s most troublesome player...and definitely straight.But when Dmitri bursts into my apartment needing a green card marriage, I suddenly find myself engaged to the team’s notorious bad boy—the same player who’s been starring in my fantasies since the day he arrived from Russia.My father, the team’s head coach, will explode when he finds out. But saying no to Dmitri isn’t a thing I can do. Now I just need to pretend to the world that we’re madly in love and pretend to Dmitri that I’m totally not.