BREAKAWAY

Carter Hayes left Willow Creek, Alaska eight years ago with an NHL contract and a guilty conscience. He promised Sloane Mitchell he’d come back for her after one perfect night together. He ghosted her instead—blocked her number, avoided home, built a career as Seattle’s best defenseman while burying the memory of gray-blue eyes and a broken promise.

Then his shoulder shatters during a playoff game. Career over at twenty-eight. The only way back? Six weeks of physical therapy in the one place he swore he’d never return. With the one woman who has every right to hate him.

The catch?

Sloane Mitchell is Willow Creek’s only physical therapist. For six weeks, she has to touch him every single day—the man who destroyed her, who promised forever and delivered nothing but silence. Her terms: Professional distance, no personal conversations, and he’s gone the second he’s healed.

His hope: Maybe she’ll let him explain. Maybe she’ll forgive him. Maybe he can prove he’s not the coward who ran.

The reality: Daily therapy sessions where her hands heal more than his shoulder. A small town that remembers their history and watches every interaction. And the terrifying discovery that the boy she loved is still buried inside the broken man who came home—vulnerable, lost, and desperate to prove he’s changed.

Except somewhere between passive range-of-motion exercises and late-night talks on the cabin porch, the walls crack. Carter discovers his identity isn’t hockey—it’s coaching kids who remind him why he loved the game. Sloane sees past her hurt to his fear: a man who defined himself by achievement and doesn’t know who he is without it.

Then his agent calls with everything he thought he wanted: an $18 million NHL contract, a return to the career that defines him, and escape from the choice that terrifies him. He can have his dream back—if he leaves her again. Now he must decide: the career he’s worked for since he was four, or the woman he’s loved since he was five.

When Carter boards the plane to Seattle choosing his career, both their hearts shatter. But alone in an empty hotel room, he realizes the truth: hockey gave him a job, but Sloane could give him a life. Some men spend their whole lives running from love. But the brave ones come home and fight for it.

Carter trades to the Alaska Aces, takes a massive pay cut, and shows up at her clinic with one question: “I’m asking you to let me stay. Will you let me prove I’m worth the risk?”

TROPES:
• Second Chance Romance
• Small Town Alaska
• Forced Proximity
• Sports Romance (Hockey)
• Friends to Lovers to Exes to Lovers
• Physical Therapist/Patient
• Grumpy Sunshine Elements
• NHL Star Returns Home
• Touch Her and Die
• Found Family
• Grand Gesture
• Earned HEA

HEAT LEVEL: Sweet/Wholesome