Easton
You know what's the worst feeling in the world? Being in love with someone since you were twelve years old, knowing they only see you as a little brother type.
Not even becoming an NHL star has made him realize I'm all grown up now.
All of that changes when I ask my brother's best friend to ref a charity match and we spend an entire week in each other's pocket.
Being close to him is torture, but for the first time since my adolescent crush started, I begin to feel hope. I swear Knox looks at me the same way I look at him. Or so I think. When I throw myself at him and get utterly rejected, I never want to see him again.
Yet, shaking him is impossible, because he and Connor are always around, and my older brother is suffocatingly protective. Every time I look at Knox, I'm reminded of how he turned me down.
Can't I just die of embarrassment in peace?
Knox
The Kiki brothers are legendary in the NHL world. Thick as thieves, unstoppable on the ice, and the kind of family nothing can come between. Or so I thought.
For the last ten years, I've successfully hidden my feelings for the middle Kiki brother. Easton is snarky, determined, and the prettiest guy I've met. Ever since we stumbled across each other on a gay dating app and shared our secrets, I've felt a connection to him that I haven't had with anything else.
But Connor is my best friend and when it comes to his little brothers, "protective" doesn't cover it. I'm determined to take my feelings for Easton to the grave, but after a week in close proximity to him, my willpower is ready to break.
All it takes is one charity hockey match, a drunken night out, and a forbidden kiss for me to know that Easton Kikishkin is it for me.
And unless I want to lose Connor, Easton will never be mine.