My mom always said you don’t get a second shot at making a first impression. I’ve remembered that my entire career. Especially since I’m one of the few black men who play professional hockey.
I’m calculated and respectful in the way I speak to my coaches, the owners, and the media. I’ve never taken a risk… until her.
I could blame it on the fact that for once I pushed away the pressure of my career for the ocean waves, the sand, and good times with my new teammates. But those are excuses because the minute I saw her at the airport, something lit up inside me and the best week of my life was spent with her in my bed.
After our week in paradise, we said goodbye, exchanged phone numbers and both assumed that unless one of us was flying through the other’s city on the opposite side of the country, our vacation fling was over.
Then one night after practice I see her. She’s here. In my city. Telling me she moved here for a job. If that’s not fate tell me what is.
I’ve never wanted a second shot more than I do this time, but she’s determined to leave what we were on the island we left behind.

Do it.Don’t do it.
Never in my life did I think I’d wager in my head whether to sleep with Chicago Grizzlies wide receiver, Damon Siska.
He’s the perfect package—hot body, killer smile, and flirts like he earned a doctorate in it. But anyone who reads gossip blogs knows he is looking for one amazing night and nothing more.
I’m not the usual type of woman he beds. I’m a middle school teacher who cherishes her quiet nights in, drinking wine, and watching romantic comedies, dreaming I’m the heroine. I’m not embarrassed to admit—I want the fairy tale.
But Damon caught me at a weak moment. Fresh off a break-up and feeling lousy about myself, I gave into temptation and left the next morning like every other woman he’d slept with.
Except I walked away with more than just the memories when three weeks later the little white stick glowed with two pink lines.

I love him.I loathe him.
It’s like plucking daisy petals in my head, but he’ll never know.
When Miles Cavanaugh, the best safety in the league, was traded to the Chicago Grizzlies football team last year, I could finally breathe. Temptation was miles away.
How naïve to think it would end there because when the opportunity to write for a national magazine based in Chicago lands in my lap months later, I can’t turn it down. Sure, it’s a big city, but the sexual energy feels like a beacon between us the minute my plane lands.
To make matters worse, I end up having to take over the job of reporting exclusively on the Chicago Grizzlies. Which means traveling with the team, interviewing players, and pretty much having an all-access pass to their lives during the season.
Miles and I put up a great front, quickly hating on one another, but we both know it’s a lie. We also know the rules are simple. For me, don’t sleep with the subject of your articles. For him, don’t sleep with the journalist who can make or break your career.
I thought straight-laced Miles Cavanaugh followed all the rules… oh how wrong I was.

Miles Cavanaugh is moving into “The Den”—a notorious four-flat apartment complex in Chicago with two of his new teammates from the Chicago Grizzlies.

The Den is known for the number of women who come and go, but as the three bachelors start their new season, they get their first inkling that things are starting to change.

Enjoy a sneak peek into Piper Rayne’s upcoming Chicago Grizzlies football romance series.

I have a reputation for being tight-lipped. You learn quick when you become a professional hockey player to be guarded with the media, so I’ve worked hard to cover up the mistakes of my youth.
But when I’m traded to the Florida Fury, where my ex–best friend is the starting right wing, I’m forced to confront my past. Ford and I have a lot of history, especially when it comes to his little sister, Imogen.
My heart still lurches in my chest when I see her.My hands want to reach out and touch her.My mouth wants to keep apologizing.
She’s the only woman who ever made me want more. But she’s also the one who fell victim to my most regrettable decision.
I’m not a believer in fate, but I must be back in her world for a reason. I’ve fought for everything I’ve gotten and I’m not backing down from what I know will be the best thing in my life.

It’s Ford and Lena’s destination wedding and every professional hockey player joining them for the big day are ready to let loose. But between vacation hook-ups, one player falling into bed with the boss and a surprise guest at the resort, there’s more action—and complications—than any of them could have predicted.
Note to Readers: This story first appeared in the charitable anthology, Color Theory. It has been rewritten and expanded since its inclusion. This is a companion piece to the Hockey Hotties series but does not have to be read to enjoy any of the books in that series.

Chase Andrews.
The Kingsmen’s top tight end.My brother’s friend and teammate.My new neighbor.The grumpy to my sunshine.
But underneath that grumpy exterior, there’s so much more.
Chase likes to pretend nothing affects him, but I’ve seen glimpses of his other side in the time we’ve spent together.
And the more we get to know each other, the more I’m falling for him.
Under normal circumstances, this would be great. Except my hyper-protective big brother thinks no man is good enough for me, and my ex-fiancé is trying to win me back.
One charming, seemingly good man already broke my heart. Am I stupid to give a self-confessed relationship-adverse football player a chance to break it a second time?

Fake.
Being the heir to Jacobs Enterprises, I’ve been around fake people my entire life. I promised myself a long time ago that I wouldn’t change for anyone. Which is the only reason I’m a professional hockey player who lives on the beach and does as he pleases without answering to anyone—except my father.
And now, my daughter.
Being a single dad wasn’t in the plan but after a one-night stand who took off after the baby was born, this is my reality.
My dad’s been harping on me to quit hockey and join the company for years and now that I’m a father, he’s only intensified his efforts. Until he makes me a deal I can’t refuse.
Insert Lena Boyd, the Jacobs’ family PR rep. She’s beautiful and intelligent and not at all the woman for me—ask anyone.
My dad needs us to act happily engaged and sell the idea that we’re in love. If we’re successful I won’t have to join the family legacy—ever. Of course, I agree.
That’s when things get complicated. I thought I had her all figured out until I found out there was more underneath her judgmental sneers and eye rolls. It feels like everything is coming together for the future I really want—with Lena—until my past ruins everything.

Trouble.
One word that comes to mind when someone talks about me. I like to think of it as protection, watching out for the ones I love. But now I’m spending more time in the penalty box than on the ice and the team owner isn’t happy.
Finding myself across the room from the hot therapist I kissed on New Year’s Eve only makes me push my problems down further. I want couch time with her but not the kind she’s used to.
I decide to lie to her just to finish off my therapy so I can do what I really want—date her—even if she says she doesn’t date hockey players. Just when my therapy sessions are up and I’ve made some headway with Paisley, it’s my parents who throw another wrench in my plans.
If I abide by my parent’s wishes to marry the one they’ve chosen, I’ll lose Paisley forever. But if I go against my parents, I’m failing my deceased best friend all over again.

Brady Banks.
The Kingsmen’s best wide receiver.
Rich AF.Hot as hell.A stallion in the sack.
How do I know that last fact? I may have shared a one-night stand with him six months ago when I was rebounding from a broken heart.
I didn’t forget him, but I was done with him, until I discovered he’s the single dad of the boy I’ve been hired to nanny.
It’s near impossible to ignore my attraction to him now that we’re living under the same roof—but I have no choice.
First, this job pays well, and I need the money to move out of my parents’ spare room.
Second, he’s a public figure and there’s no room for me to get caught up in a scandal with him—I can’t disappoint my parents again.
Third, men like Brady were built to break hearts. I barely managed to piece mine back together after my failed engagement and Brady would do irreparable damage if I gave him the chance.
Let the longest three months of my life begin…