Fresh Ice: An MM Hockey, Friends to Lovers Romance (Atlanta Firebirds Book 1)

A bisexual awakening, a closeted captain, and the NHL expansion team that becomes their found family. Co-captains. Teammates. A slow burn neither of them saw coming.

Ryan "Ash" Asher is the sunshine center who makes every locker room warmer just by showing up. Signed to the Atlanta Firebirds after a divorce he's still pretending didn't break him, he's chasing a fresh start. New city. New team. New ice. He's fine. But from the first phone call with his co-captain, something he can't explain takes hold. Ash has never wanted a man before, and Antero Ikonen is unraveling everything he thought he knew about himself.

Antero "Avi" Ikonen hasn't let anyone close in a decade. Fifteen years closeted in professional hockey. A secret relationship with a teammate that ended on a highlight reel. A trade that felt less like a roster move and more like being thrown away. Avi's job is to lead this expansion team, not fall for the too-warm center who texts at midnight and keeps finding doors in walls Avi didn't know existed.

He falls first. He falls quiet. And he can't stop.

A grumpy-sunshine, slow burn teammates romance about a bisexual awakening, a closeted captain who's been hurt before, and a stray cat at the team facility who knows what he wants before either of them do.

Tropes: MM Hockey Romance • Bi-Awakening • Slow Burn • Grumpy-Sunshine • He Falls First • Forced Proximity • Secret Relationship • Hurt/Comfort • Found Family • Co-Captains • Stray Cat

Heat Level: Spicy
Tone: Emotional, Sharp Humor
Series Type: Interconnected Standalones, Book 1 of 5
Ending: HEA
POV: Dual, First Person
Content Notes: Bisexual identity, coming out later in life, closeted athlete, on-page sexual content between consenting adult men, past relationship that ended in physical confrontation