Cross Check

A disgraced NHL forward with nothing left to lose. A goalie who sees everything. And one apartment, one investigation, and a season neither of them expected to survive.

Nico Varis lost everything — his team, his name, his reputation — when a gambling investigation he had nothing to do with destroyed his career overnight. Traded to the Chicago Storm under a cloud of suspicion, he's assigned to live with starting goalie Kieran Walsh, who's been ordered to monitor him and report back to management. Walsh is controlled, private, and impossible to read. Nico doesn't trust him. He doesn't trust anyone. He sleeps on the floor because floors can't be taken away.

But Kieran Walsh pays attention the way goalies do — constant, precise, and unrelenting. He notices the nightmares. He notices the 3 AM tea ritual. He notices that Nico rearranges his mugs at four in the morning like a man trying to impose order on a world that keeps pulling the rug. And when the media comes for Nico again, Walsh doesn't step aside. He steps in front. And Nico is terrified — not of the investigation, not of the press, but of what it means to let someone stay.

✓ Roommates / forced proximity
✓ Hurt/comfort
✓ Goalie leaves his crease
✓ He fell first
✓ Found family
✓ Touch-starved
✓ Dual first-person POV

Heat Level: Explicit
Vibes: Intense, tender, earned
Setting: Chicago, NHL
Ending: HEA.
Chicago Storm Series, Book 2. Can be read as a standalone.

Some saves happen off the ice.