Novella. He broke my nose last spring. Now I have to share a hotel room with him. Theo Lindqvist has been called a lot of things: speed demon, social-media darling, the most annoying chirper in the league. He never expected to be called 'Portland Ironclads property.' Traded overnight, Theo walks into his new locker room with a smile and a scar across his nose, courtesy of Cal Rourke, the enforcer whose stall is now right next to his. Cal 'The Wrecking Ball' Rourke doesn't do friends, doesn't do media and definitely doesn't do sunshine. He does his job: he hits people and he keeps everyone away. When Cal and Theo come to blows at their first practice, the coach has had enough. They'll be roommates on the road until they learn to play like they like each other. Six cities. One room. And, thanks to a booking error, one bed. Theo expected snoring. He didn't expect the enforcer icing his hands at 3 a.m. and calling his father in memory care. He didn't expect Cal to drop his gloves the first time someone takes a run at him. And he didn't expect one growled sentence to flip his whole world: 'Nobody hits you but me.' But a closet is still a closet, a viral photo is still a viral photo, and Cal has spent his whole life believing he's only good for one thing. To keep Theo, the league's most feared fighter will have to do the one thing he's never done: stop fighting. HARD CHECK is a steamy, funny, emotional MM hockey novella featuring grumpy x sunshine, rivals-to-lovers, forced proximity, only one bed and a 'touch him and you die' enforcer, with a guaranteed happily ever after.