North & Rye: The Billionaire Hockey Captain Next Door
When NHL captain Ethan Brooks becomes the center of a career-ending scandal, the last thing he expects is to find comfort in a neighborhood bakery.
Emma Carter has spent years rebuilding her life after losing her parents, pouring everything she has into North & Rye. She doesn’t care about celebrity gossip or billionaire families. She only knows that the quiet man who comes in every morning for coffee seems exhausted by the weight of the world.
As their friendship grows into something deeper, Ethan begins finding pieces of himself he thought he’d lost. But falling in love with him comes at a cost Emma never imagined. Her bakery becomes the target of public outrage, her neighborhood is threatened by the very company Ethan’s father controls, and every decision they make seems to pull them further into the spotlight they both wish they could escape.
With Ethan chasing one final chance at the Stanley Cup and Emma fighting to save the place that has always felt like home, they’ll have to decide whether love is enough when the entire world seems determined to tear them apart.
In the end, Ethan discovers that redemption isn’t found in winning championships or changing public opinion. It’s found every morning inside a little bakery called North & Rye, where one woman believed in him long before anyone else did.
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Chapter: Chapter 45Ethan:They were still talking when I looked back. Ryan had one of the pastry boxes tucked against his hip while Emma folded the tablecloth, and they moved around each other without getting in the way. It was the kind of ease people developed after spending years learning one another’s habits.That was fast.I hated how much the thought hurt.Before I could make myself watch them any longer, I turned away. Across the rink, Noah caught my eye and nodded toward the exit. I returned the gesture, said goodbye to the last few kids, and let the guys head downtown without me.I went home.The apartment was quiet in the way it always was after a crowded night, as if the walls needed time to settle. I sat at the kitchen table with a legal pad and began sketching ideas for the rink: jerseys for a kids’ team, better ice schedules, equipment budgets. Things that could turn the place into something more than a headline people would forget as soon as the next story came along.I kept drawing, but m
Last Updated: 2026-09-08
Chapter: Chapter 44Emma:The rink barely resembled the place where I had first watched Ethan skate laps by himself months earlier, my coffee cooling untouched on a bench across the street. Lights now looped along the rafters, handmade banners brightened the boards, and children filled every corner of the building. More than I had ever seen there at once. Some crowded against the glass, while others sat on the benches in various stages of being laced into their skates.Sophie and I had spent the morning setting up a table near the entrance with trays of pastries and a coffee urn borrowed from the bakery. By the time the doors officially opened, half the neighborhood had already come through. People greeted one another as if it were a holiday instead of an ordinary Saturday, which probably said more about how badly everyone had needed something good than it did about the rink itself.Ethan was there, though I had to look for him. He stayed near the far boards, helping a little boy adjust his helmet while
Last Updated: 2026-09-08
Chapter: Chapter 43Emma: The two weeks after Ethan left passed in a blur of early mornings, burnt pastries, and customers who seemed determined to discuss the neighborhood’s future while standing directly in front of the register. The bakery stayed busy, the neighborhood stayed tense, and I kept pretending I had enough work to do that I did not notice Ethan’s absence. I noticed it. I noticed every time the bell above the door rang, every time a tall man in a dark coat passed the front window, and every time Sophie glanced at me after I looked toward the street. So when Mrs. Dawson knocked on our door with a flyer for a community meeting at the rink, I accepted it before she could give me the speech she had clearly prepared. “You’re coming,” she said. “I gathered that.” “Good. Wear something decent.” “I own decent clothes.” Her gaze moved past me to the sweatshirt I was wearing. “Somewhere in this house, maybe.” The next evening, I stood in front of my closet while Sophie sat on the edge of my b
Last Updated: 2026-09-03
Chapter: Chapter 42Emma: I was turning the key in the front door when I heard footsteps behind me. I knew who it was before he said my name, which was irritating enough on its own. “Emma.” I kept my hand on the lock. “It’s late, Ethan.” “I know. I waited until it was.” Of course he had. Ethan had always been annoyingly considerate whenever I wanted him to be careless. I turned and found him standing several feet away, his hands tucked into his jacket pockets. He had left enough space between us to make it clear he wasn’t going to force a conversation. “I’m not here to argue,” he said. “I need to say a few things, and then I’ll go. If you never want to see me again after tonight, I’ll respect that.” I folded my arms, still holding my keys. “Go ahead.” He glanced toward the bakery, then back at me. “I wasn’t trying to sabotage you. Or play you. Or use you. Whatever version of me you’ve been carrying around for the last two weeks, that isn’t who I was with you.” “You still kept the truth from me.”
Last Updated: 2026-09-01
Chapter: Chapter 41Ethan: The rink was already loud when we pulled into the parking lot, the good kind of loud that made you feel as though something entertaining was about to happen. Kids crowded the glass before Noah had even finished parking, pointing at the SUV as if we had arrived with a marching band. “You didn’t tell them we were coming,” Lucas said, grinning at the gathering crowd. “I didn’t tell anyone anything.” “Sure.” We had driven out together after morning skate. Noah wanted to see the rink where I had been spending most afternoons, and Adam had invited himself along before I could object. Lucas appeared a few minutes later without explanation, which was becoming his favorite way to join plans. The moment we stepped inside, the noise rose another level. “Is that Adam Foster?” a kid shouted, and Adam stopped so abruptly that Noah nearly walked into him. “Oh no. They know my name.” “You’re on a hockey card,” Noah said. “People tend to notice.” Adam looked personally betrayed by the
Last Updated: 2026-08-27
Chapter: Chapter 40Emma: My phone buzzed for the third time that morning. I turned it facedown on the counter and went back to kneading dough, which had become my preferred method of communication. Christine watched me from across the kitchen. “That’s the third one today.” “I know.” “You could look.” “I know what it says.” “Do you?” She wiped flour from her hands onto her apron and leaned against the doorframe. “Because it looks like you’re punishing yourself as much as him.” “I’m not punishing anyone.” I pressed my palms into the dough until it pushed back, then folded it over itself. “Emma.” “I heard you.” I kept my eyes on the dough. “I’m not ready. Ignoring him isn’t cruelty. It’s where I am.” Christine’s mouth tightened, but she let it go for now. That was the trouble with people who loved you. They remembered every conversation you hoped they’d forgotten. By lunchtime, Sophie had taken over where Christine left off. She sat across from me with half a sandwich in one hand and the carefu
Last Updated: 2026-08-26
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