Cover Design: Elle Maxwell

March 24, 2026

He’s a backup goalie with a broken game. The only thing he needs more than a win is the hot, grumpy bartender who pours his weekly beer.

Becker James is having a spectacularly bad season. Once a top draft pick, he’s now riding the bench in the minors, one failed save away from being cut. The highlight of his week? A lonely hour on a barstool at Sportsballs, Denver’s queerest watering hole—and Forest, the bartender with flannel sleeves, a gruff voice, and a beard that stars in Beck’s dreams.

Opportunity strikes when Forest’s LGBTQ hockey team—the Stickhandlers—loses their goalie last-minute. Beck makes Forest an he’ll help them beat the most hated team in the beer league, but he wants something in return—one night together.

Cue the record scratch, because Seth Forrester doesn’t do hookups. After his last one went horribly wrong, he swore off men for good. He’s definitely not falling for the awkward hottie who just stammered through an indecent proposal.

But Beck is prepared to press his case, no matter how awkward it gets. And one beer league game turns into something messier, sweeter, and so much harder to walk away from…