Riley has been in love with the hockey captain for long enough to know she won't do anything about it. Her solution—sending her roommate Chloe's photos in a dating app conversation with Connor—feels harmless until she joins the team as assistant and has to face him in person every day. Online he's sweet and chatty; in real life he's warm and attentive in ways that make no sense for someone who supposedly has no idea who she is.
He does, of course. Connor recognized her the moment she showed up and has been playing along for reasons he hasn't shared. When Chloe decides to take the meeting Riley arranged, everything unravels at once—and Riley's instinct is to disappear rather than explain. What Connor has to say when he finally stops letting her run changes what this story is actually about.
