Boarded: An M/M Hockey Romance

Cover: Tall Story Designs Photographer: CJC Photography Model: Robbie Siclari Copyright © 2023 by Carly Marie All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. CONTENTS Boarded Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Epilogue Acknowledgments A Note From Carly About the Author BOARDED The action where a player pushes, trips, or body checks an opponent causing them to go dangerously into the boards. *The onus is on the player delivering the check to avoid placing a vulnerable or defenseless opponent in danger. PROLOGUE 16 Years Earlier Collin “Minnesota?” Hadley and Gramps stared at me in confusion as I reread the letter that had arrived in our mailbox that afternoon. “University of Minnesota.” Which was weird because I hadn’t applied to Minnesota. “Did you apply there?” At barely fifteen, Hadley didn’t pay much attention to what I was doing. She was more caught up in computer games or hanging out with friends than what her older brother was doing with his life. And really, I was rarely home. Between theater and hockey, I rarely saw the house if it wasn’t on my way to my bedroom. It surprised me that she knew I’d applied to any colleges. “I thought you wanted to go to that Mellon one.” “Carnegie Mellon,” my grandfather and I both said. Gramps added an additional pop to the back of Hadley’s head. “I swear. You’re gonna have to step away from those video games soon. They’re turning your brain soft.” Hadley rolled her eyes, but I spoke first. “Hadley’s right. I didn’t apply to Minnesota. Honestly, the closest place to Minnesota I applied to was Chicago. I thought it was a mistake at first, but no, this is addressed directly to me. They’re offering me a full ride.” My grandpa looked as confused as I’d felt the first hour after opening the letter. “Does Minnesota have a drama program?” I shrugged. “If it does, it’s not a well-known one. This isn’t for drama, Gramps. It’s for hockey.” My sister hooted like the information was the funniest thing she’d ever heard. “Hockey? Minnesota’s a top-ranked hockey team! They’re in the semi-finals of the Frozen Four right now. Why the hell do they want you?” “Language.” Grandpa didn’t care so much about language, though he didn’t like when one of us used it to insult the other. He’d never let the two of us insult one another and fights that ended in name-calling were the only times Hadley or I had ever been grounded. Grandpa nodded sagely, his gray mustache twitching at the corners with the beginning of a smile. “Minnesota’s top-notch, Collin.” “It’s a lot to think about.” I wanted to pursue acting. I’d been involved in theater since Hadley and I had come to live with Grandpa in Columbus. I’d been six and Hadley only three, uprooted and moved halfway around the world when our dad remarried and his new wife didn’t want kids. He’d chosen the Italian model over us and had sent us packing. Grandpa had thought I needed something to help me get used to life in not only Ohio but also the United States. He hoped it would also help me learn more English as we’d almost exclusively spoken Italian at home. A few calls later, I’d been signed up at a local children’s theater and had fallen in love. Hockey had been an afterthought. When I was eight, the neighbor girl took up figure skating. We’d gone to one of her performances at the local rink, and the high school hockey team had been playing when we arrived. It wasn’t so much that I’d been interested as Grandpa thought it would be a good way to get my extra energy out. It turned out that I was damn good at the sport. And all that brought me to my current predicament. The University of Minnesota wanted me, Collin Harringford, theater geek and hockey player. I’d never considered playing at the collegiate level, despite my coach assuring me I could make it. I wasn’t stupid. Travel hockey teams were a dime a dozen compared to top-ranked NCAA hockey programs. The odds of me making it to college on anything more than a club league team had been low, no matter what Coach Matthews thought. While applying to colleges, I’d gone for the safe choice: drama. Yet there was now an offer letter in my hand from not only one of the sixty or so colleges to offer Division 1 hockey but one who had been in the top five the last few years. Hell, they’d made it to the Frozen Four the year before. I had no idea what I was going to do. Hadley’s phone chimed on the table and she glanced down quickly. “Gramps, can I go to Jett’s house? He’s making a new soda flavor and wants me to help.” Grandpa gave my sister a searching look. Jett wasn’t a bad kid. He just had bad luck following him around. He was a walking case of Murphy’s law and, as his best friend, Hadley was often wrapped up in the disasters. “Nothing that explodes. Nothing that stains. Nothing that requires more chemistry