This is a secret friends with benefits, reformed playboy turned cinnamon-roll romance with a guaranteed HEA.

He’s never met a goal he couldn’t hit or a woman he couldn’t charm. Until her.

CALLUM FINNIGAN is the NHL’s golden boy. A master of the chase, he’s used to shooting his shot — and scoring.

Enter: ALIA JOSHI. The shy former cricketer is nothing like Callum’s usual flings. Healing from an abusive ex and a messy divorce, she’s vulnerable, awkward, and — as his grumpy teammate’s cousin — strictly off-limits.

What starts as tipsy bonding over mojitos and potato puns soon blurs into an unexpected friendship. Callum sees her strength despite her scars; Alia sees the lonely man hidden behind jersey #23.

Their ease? Instant. Their chemistry? Crackling. His inability to curb his attraction for her? Disruptive.

Because when Alia proposes a no-strings attached affair to reclaim her independence without risking her heart, Callum faces a choice: Be the playboy he’s expected to be, or make a play for the only woman who he desires not as a fling, but a forever.