Young sports doctor, Grace Stewart begins her dream residency with the Springfield Vipers, the wildest team in professional hockey. But between a smoldering team captain, a charming rival transfer, and a gruff, secretive coach, Grace’s heart, body, and career are thrown into chaos. When she ends up pregnant after a night she barely remembers.
View MoreGrace’s POV
Three men stood around me. One of them, Noah, placed his hand over my stomach. It wasn’t a possessive touch. It wasn’t shy either. Just familiar. Like he’d done it before. The coach spoke up. “Things might’ve gotten out of hand, but there’s no going back now.” I didn’t say anything. There wasn’t much left to say. My body still remembered everything about that night. How it started. How it ended. How it changed everything. Noah glanced at me. “That means we’re in this together.” Wes gave a short laugh and looked over at the other two. “Then I guess we’ll share. At least until the babies come.” FOUR MONTHS EARLIER… I was standing in front of an office door with a clipboard in one hand and a tight feeling in my chest I couldn’t explain. The plaque said Dr. Regina Collins. She was supposed to be my supervisor. I had been looking forward to working with her since the moment I got accepted into the residency program at Northcrest Sports Medicine. Northcrest is the best sports medical institute in the city, maybe even the state. Getting in had taken everything I had. Long hours, long nights, and even longer years. But I made it. I knocked, then opened the door. The voice I heard on the other side wasn’t Dr. Collins. It was deeper. A male voice. And even familiar. When I walked in, I saw my stepfather, Grayson Hunt. He was standing behind a young female resident. His hand was up her shirt. She backed away fast when she saw me. He didn’t. He stared at me like I was the one interrupting something that belonged to him. “Didn’t your mother ever teach you to knock?” he said. I stayed exactly where I was. “I’m still mad at her for marrying him after my dad died,” I said in my head, “but even she doesn’t deserve this.” The girl rushed out of the side door, and it was just the two of us. “If you tell your mother, I’ll have you fired so fast your head will spin,” he said. “You don’t have that kind of power here,” I told him. “Dr. Collins is my supervisor.” He didn’t even look concerned. “She was. She got transferred last week. I’m in charge now.” The words hit harder than I expected. “You can’t just fire me!” “I won’t need to,” he said. “You’ll fuck something up eventually, and I’ll be right there to make sure it sticks.” I stood there in silence, then turned to leave. “Why don’t you leave sports surgery to the real doctors, Grace?” he called after me. “You’d make a better OB-GYN anyway.” I didn’t turn back. I walked out before I gave him what he wanted. A reaction. Orientation was later that morning. I sat at the back of the conference room, keeping my head down while assignments were handed out. The room was loud, mostly chatter and whispers, until the director, Dr. Georgina Hammond, called for attention. “Next up,” she said, scanning her list, “the Springfield Vipers.” I heard someone groan. The Vipers were a professional hockey team known for their talent, and for the chaos they brought with them. “Buckle up,” Dr. Hammond said. “These hockey stars are not known for their patience.” Grayson stepped in before she could finish. “Grace will take them.” My head turned slowly in his direction. He smirked. “Good luck. You’ll need it.” My chest tightened, but I stood up anyway. “Thank you, Dr. Hunt,” I said. “I look forward to supporting the team to the best of my ability.” The room went quiet for a second. I could feel the other residents looking at me, wondering if I was being honest or just stupid. But I didn’t care. Dr. Hammond looked at me like she was seeing me for the first time. “That’s the kind of professionalism we like to see here. I’ve got my eye on someone for an early promotion to a permanent position. If you can handle the Vipers, it’ll go a long way.” I felt the shift immediately. Northcrest rarely opened permanent slots. Earning one wasn’t just about being good, it was about proving you could handle pressure. And right now, all eyes were on me. It’s competitive, cutthroat, and exactly where I want to be. So when Dr. Hammond looked up from her clipboard and glanced in my direction, my stomach clenched. “If you can handle the roughest team on our roster,” she said, her voice calm but pointed, “that’ll go a long way toward earning a permanent role.” She was talking about the hockey team. My assignment. The one Grayson had practically thrown me into like he couldn’t wait to watch me sink. Grayson shifted beside her. “But Georgina…” His voice had that smooth, insincere edge he always used when he was trying to cover his real intentions. Dr. Hammond cut him off without looking up. “You’ve clearly shown a lot of trust in this young woman, Dr. Hunt. I’m looking forward to seeing if she can deliver.” I left the conference room and made my way to the locker room to change into something else. I didn’t want to look too formal or too casual, but I also wasn’t about to walk into the rink looking like a lost intern. I slipped into a black turtleneck bodysuit tucked into tailored gray slacks, sharp lines and clean cuts. I pulled a Northcrest ID lanyard over my head, fastened a slim belt around my waist, and tied my hair back into a sleek ponytail. A fitted white coat completed the look. By the time I stepped out of the tunnel and into the Springfield Vipers’ home rink, my heart was hammering against my ribs. The arena was cold, but I barely noticed it. The rink stretched wide at the center of the stadium, the boards gleaming under the lights. On the ice, bodies moved fast, players cutting sharp angles, colliding with bone-jarring force. It was loud and electric. The Vipers’ signature red and white jerseys stood out in a blur of speed and power, with bold crimson V emblems streaked across broad chests and padded shoulders. I stood there at the edge, trying to act like I wasn’t overwhelmed. My hands were shoved deep in my coat pockets to hide the way they were starting to tremble. It’s their first game of the season, they always rack up the most injuries in game one. A hard crash against the boards snapped my attention forward. I looked just in time to see a Vipers player slam an opposing forward against the glass with brutal precision. The boards shook. The guy went down.I stood up on legs that barely felt like mine, knees soft, blood humming. Every inch of my body pulsed with memory, with desire, with that reckless craving that had never really gone quiet since the retreat. Slowly, deliberately, I peeled off my scrubs. Not all at once. I let them slide down my hips with a kind of teasing ease, like my skin was aching to be bared. Underneath, I wore the set I had no business wearing to work. Blood red. Lacy. Practically a sin. Noah let out a low whistle. His voice had gone thick. “Fuck. You could make a hospital gown look hot.” Wesley tilted his head, eyes dragging down my body like he was carving me into memory. “Now we’re overdressed.” “Then fix it,” I said, lips curling. I didn’t even have to say it twice. The three of them stood as one, forming a slow, deliberate circle around me. Dennis’s fingers tugged his shirt off in one fluid motion. Noah shrugged his hoodie halfway over his head and left it hanging behind his neck, like a man too wild t
The gym smelled like polished wood, sweat, and industrial-strength disinfectant.Coach Dennis had barely pulled me out of the locker room before the three of them were guiding me into the empty hospital gym. The overhead lights buzzed faintly. In the far corner, a lone athlete jogged on a treadmill, earbuds in, minding his own business.“We need this room. Out!” Dennis said flatly.The athlete barely looked up before grabbing his towel. The second he caught the full force of Dennis’s don’t-test-me stare, he was off the treadmill and out the door like it was on fire. Dennis turned the lock behind him with a clean click.I raised an eyebrow. “Guys, thanks for getting me out of there, but you’re acting like brutes.”Noah grinned. “You like it.”I rolled my eyes, pretending not to hear that. “No comment.”Then I lifted my hand to my mouth, zipped my lips shut with two fingers, and pretended to toss away the key.Wesley let out a soft laugh behind me.But when I looked up, the humor died i
I groaned inwardly.I instantly knew whose handiwork it was.Clearly my stepdad hired my ex just to get under my skin. But I wasn’t going to give either of them the satisfaction of watching me break. Not today.The second I called him my ex from hell, something shifted around me.Dennis moved first. His stance widened, jaw tight, fist flexing like he was ready to swing if this man so much as breathed wrong. Wesley’s shoulder pressed against mine, steady and hot, while Noah stepped forward with that sharp glint in his eye that usually meant someone was about to get hurt. Maybe not physically. But hurt all the same.My ex smiled like he was enjoying the attention. Like he had walked into this room just to light a match and watch it burn.“You missed me that much, huh?” he said.Noah didn’t even hesitate. “Watch yourself.”Wesley added, cool and blunt, “Grace doesn’t like you. Which means I don’t like you.”Director Georgina made a little sound in her throat, like she wasn’t sure whether
The lounge was quiet, finally. I leaned back against the counter, half-dressed in scrubs, just trying to breathe. My muscles ached in places I forgot existed, and my brain still buzzed with Carter’s case. I had handled it. I had saved him. I had barely processed any of it.Then the door flung open, loud and sudden.Noah walked in like he’d been looking for a fight. His eyes scanned me instantly.“Are you okay?” His voice was tight.I straightened. “What are you doing here?”Wesley followed right behind him. “We’ve been calling you all day. Texting too.”Coach Dennis was the last to enter. He closed the door behind them and folded his arms. “Have they been working you nonstop for the past twenty-four hours?”I blinked at them, completely thrown off. Then my lips curved, warmth unfurling in my chest.“Guys,” I said, soft and surprised. “You’re sweet. Really. Thank you. But bring-your-hockey-player-to-work day is next week.”Noah grinned, stepping forward with something wrapped in soft p
The bus rocked gently beneath us, the low hum of the engine the only sound for a long moment. I sat near the window, forehead resting against the cool glass as my eyes followed the snowy ridgelines stretching beyond the road. We were winding back down the mountain, back to reality, back to whatever fallout waited on the other side of this ride. “I’m glad we got the deposit back,” Dennis said from somewhere behind me, voice quiet, like he was trying to focus on something other than the obvious. Noah leaned forward in his seat, rubbing the back of his neck. “We may have more important shit to worry about right now, Coach.” Wesley turned halfway in his seat and let out a half-laugh. “You mean like a night of wild sex with a box of broken condoms?” The words hit like cold water, even if they were meant to cut the tension. My stomach knotted instantly. I shifted in my seat and pulled the collar of my coat tighter around my neck. “I can’t believe Molly would put us in this positio
I sat at the cabin’s tiny table, fingers resting against the edge of my plate. The bagel in front of me had gone cold. I couldn’t remember if I’d taken a bite. My stomach twisted with the kind of nerves that couldn’t be fed anyway.Wesley leaned against the counter, staring into his coffee like it might give him answers. Dennis paced once, then again, each turn tighter than the last. Noah stood near the door, arms crossed, his gaze flicking between the three of us like he was waiting for something to snap.No one said much.The wrappers were still in a pile on the nightstand. I hadn’t thrown them away.“I’m calling the supervisor,” Dennis said finally, voice low. “She’s going to want to see this.”“I’ll check the cabin logs,” Noah said. “There might be something on the feed.”I didn’t answer. I just watched. They all looked like they were ready to hit something.*****The sun had barely climbed above the treetops when we gathered near the admin cabin. The air smelled like damp wood an
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