Nowhere to Be

He had the winger moved off his line in October and never said why. Now the road out is gone, and there is one bed at the end of the hall.

Owen Novak is thirty, nine seasons a Frost centre, and a man who handles things so quietly they never become anybody elses problem. In October he handled wanting Gus Wieland: he had the line broken up and gave no reason. Gus lost two months of top-six minutes and two scratches in a contract year, and was never told why.

The week before Christmas they are the only two guests at Cole Brandt and Erik Lindholms dinner for the men with nowhere to be. That night two spruce take ten feet of the hillside road down with them. Nobody drives out until the twenty-seventh.

On the second night Gus asks it flat across the ham — what did I do in October — and Owen lies to his face.

The truth costs more. Saying it out loud costs more still.

Forced proximity, slow burn, one bed, a first time with a man, high heat and a guaranteed HEA. Perfect for fans of Rachel Reid and Sarina Bowen & Elle Kennedy.