Game Plan

Copyright © 2023 by Amy Aislin All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. Edited by Brenda Chin. Copyedited by Boho Edits. Second pass copyedit by Edie’s Edits. Cover art by Cate Ashwood Designs. ALSO BY AMY AISLIN Stick Side series On the Ice* The Nature of the Game* Shots on Goal Risking the Shot Two-Man Team Star of the Game Stick Side Series Adult Coloring Book, Vol. 1 Vancouver Orcas Trilogy Game Plan* Game Changer (July 2023) Game On (fall/winter 2023) Lighthouse Bay Trilogy Christmas Lane Gingerbread Mistletoe Sweet to the Core Keeping Him series Keeping Casey* Keeping Kellan* Windsor, Wyoming series Home for a Cowboy Lakeshore series The Heights Other Books Elias Ballerina Dad Chasing Sunsets* As Big as the Sky The Play of His Life One Winter with You A Gift-Wrapped Holiday* *also available on audio ABOUT GAME PLAN As the new head coach of the Vancouver Orcas, Matt Shore has got his work cut out for him. Coming off a season where the Orcas came in last in the entire AHL, Matt’s job is to whip his new hockey team into shape for the oncoming season. He doesn’t need any distractions, especially not one in the form of a tall, dark, and gorgeous antiques dealer. Who’s also his ex—and his best player’s father. Pierce Langley-Brown has a lot of regrets. The biggest? Leaving Matt behind two years ago when his son needed him. Now, with his son on Matt’s hockey team, there’s no avoiding the man who once owned his heart. Not that Pierce wants to avoid him. And that heart? It still belongs to Matt. But will Matt choose to keep it after all this time? CONTENTS Content warning 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 Epilogue Acknowledgments About the Author Also by Amy Aislin CONTENT WARNING Parental death—occurred off-page and in the past, but is discussed on-page. Mental health and depression. Please take care of yourselves if this is triggering or upsetting for you. CHAPTER ONE As the new head coach of the Vancouver Orcas—a team that had come in dead last in the entire AHL last season—Matt Shore should’ve been reviewing the player roaster with his fellow coaches, determining who needed extra skills training, who would benefit from an attitude adjustment, and who had an injury that needed babying before the regular season started in a few days. His job was to win. If a coach’s team didn’t win games, the coach got fired. It was as simple as that. Hockey was a business, just like anything else. And if Matt wanted to coach an NHL team—he’d been passed over for a coveted position just a few months ago and had gone to the Orcas instead—he needed to prove he had the chops for it. Which meant he should’ve been poring over his roster and reworking his lines. Instead, he was sitting in one of Vancouver, British Columbia’s few 24/7 cafés in the Riley Park–Little Mountain neighbourhood. Getting dumped. And he’d known he was about to get dumped too, whether from experience or a sixth sense, or maybe because Tyler’s responses to his texts had taken longer and longer to arrive in the last week. He could’ve pre-empted this and done the dumping himself over text, but he hadn’t, because, first—he’d been dumped by text before, and it was as soul crushing as it sounded. And second—he’d never been one to avoid confrontation. Eyeing Tyler’s sheepish expression, Matt nursed his tea, having opted for herbal since anything caffeinated at this time of day would keep him up until the hour before his alarm went off. If this went anything like the last two times Matt had been dumped, Tyler would start with stuttered positivity. “So, uh . . . This has been a lot of, uh, fun. Right? You and me? The past few weeks?” Matt: 1. “It has,” Matt said, his to-go cup warm between his hands. The second step was the lead-in to the dumping. “Right.” Tyler’s smile was relieved, slightly goofy. He was cute in a toddler-learning-to-walk kind of way, which wasn’t at all Matt’s type, but when Tyler had messaged him via the dating app Matt had installed on his phone a year ago, he’d figured, why not? And it had been fun. While the sex had been kind of meh, they’d always had a good time hanging out. “The thing is, uh . . . I really like you, but I jumped into the dating thing a little too quickly after my last breakup.” Matt: 2. The third step was the reason for the dumping, and judging by the last two times Matt had been dumped, that reason was . . . “My ex and I are getting back together.” Bingo. Matt: 3. Being right normally felt fucking awesome, and though there was a touch of satisfaction coursing through him, mostly he felt . . . tired. “I’m really sorry,” Tyler continued, reaching out to squeeze one of Matt’s hands. He sounded sorry too, though he hadn’t lost that goofy smile, which made sense if he’d reunited with the ex Matt had suspected he hadn’t been quite over. “I understand.” Matt forced a smile past the exhaustion. “I’m happy you two found each other again.” “It . . .” Cupping his own cup, Tyler sighed. “It might not work out this time either, but we’re both willing to try. I don’t usually give second chances, but maybe this time it’ll be worth it.” Matt had once had the same