Hey hockey romantics!

Welcome to Hartford, where hockey players are still causing trouble on and off the ice! After watching Chase and Emma find their happily ever after, it's time for a new romance that breaks all the rules...

Author's Note
This is the final, edited version of Playing Defense. If you've read earlier drafts or sneak peeks, some scenes have been revised and polished for this release. Thank you for supporting Jackson and Maya's story—I hope you love them as much as I do. 💙

Best friend's brother
Found family
Friends to Lovers
Mutual Pining
Friends with Benefits
Age Gap
Jealousy
Bickering like an old married couple

JACKSON ANDERSON

I've always been the responsible one. The reliable one. The guy who doesn't screw up-until her. Maya is my sister's best friend and the one woman I should never touch. She's wild, unpredictable, and exactly what I ever knew I needed. Now I'm lying to my own family just to keep her close.

MAYA RIVERA

I've had enough heartbreak to last a lifetime. Falling into bed with Jackson wasn't smart, but it was the best decision I've made in months. He's steady where I'm messy, quiet where I'm loud. What started as a secret turned serious fast, and now I'm hiding the one good thing in my life from the person who's always been my safe place.

We said no feelings.
But we're already in too deep.

Falling for each other was never part of the plan.
But neither was playing defense with their hearts on the line.

Contains moderate language, explicit adult situations, discussions of career burnout, anxiety, and complicated family dynamics. Also features impossible hockey boys with perfect hair... and the women who mess it up.