About to Bloom by Ash Jackson

Mathéo “Théo” Beaubien is a Chinese French Canadian figure skater, former prodigy turned cautionary tale. After a very public collapse, he flees Toronto’s pressure cooker for his brother’s spare bedroom in Chicago—Avery Beaubien, a rising hockey star for the Chicago Frost. He’s supposed to get his life back on track. Instead, he wears indifference like armour, turns deflection into an art, and keeps everyone at arm’s length.

Derek “Sully” Sullivan is the guy everyone counts on—alternate captain, locker room leader, the steady hand in a crisis. But after a career-threatening injury and a broken engagement, steady is the last thing he feels. It’s his comeback season. He’s supposed to be finding his footing. Instead, he’s losing it to his teammate’s younger brother—a prickly figure skater with a bad attitude and walls a mile high.

Théo isn’t looking to be saved—especially not by his brother’s teammate. Falling for Derek was never part of the plan. But some walls are meant to be climbed and some people are stubborn enough to try.