Game Changer

“Because he just lit up like the goddamn sun. Jesus. You guys are doomed.”

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REVIEW

Would I read this again? Yes No Maybe

Spicy Level Legend How spicy is this book?

Tropes	Trigger Warnings
MM romance, Hidden romance, Hockey romance, Coming out	Death of a parent, Mild homophobia

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SUMMARY

Want to just skip to the spice? I got you: 5, 7, 9, 10, 14, 15, 16, 17, 25, 26, 27

Christopher Grady, known as Kip, isn’t exactly living his dreams. He is a college graduate, with a degree in history, still living at home with his parents, working at a smoothie shop, with a side job with a caterer. Not exactly where he thought he’d be in his mid 20s. One day, he’s just resting his eyes against the wall at work when an incredibly hot guy comes in to order a smoothie. Kip doesn’t realize it until after he leaves, and his coworker, Maria, points it out, but that was Scott Hunter. Just one of the best hockey players in the NHL. Kip is even more shocked when Scott comes in the next day for another smoothie. Scott tells him that his team, New York Admirals, won their last game so maybe Kip’s smoothie was a good luck charm.

From the outside, Scott Hunter looks like he has the perfect life. Which he does, mostly. He gets to do his dream job. He’s on a wonderful team which is like his family. He has lots of endorsements and makes a shit ton of money. But … he’s super lonely. Scott’s mom died when he was 14. He doesn’t have any other family and he’s getting pretty sick of coming home to an empty penthouse all the time. He’s also been having a run of bad games lately. Something seems off and he doesn’t know what to do about it. Walking into the smoothie shop seems to change something. He can’t stop thinking about Kip. On his third trip into the smoothie shop, Kip makes a comment about how hockey players in the midst of playoffs, with their beards, look like hot lumberjacks. Scott gets nervous. He can tell (he thinks) that Kip is flirting with him and he wants to flirt back so badly. The problem is that he never picks up guys in his home city. Or in the North American continent. He only hooks up with guys while on summer vacation in European countries who don’t give a shit about hockey. He starts to leave the smoothie shop but on a whim decides to ask Kip if he wants to go to the game tonight. He always has 2 seats available and never anyone to give them to. Kip doesn’t know what to make of the free ticket offer but he accepts and takes his dad to the game. It makes Scott extremely happy to look up and see Kip in his seats but he doesn’t understand why.

Scott has a few out of town games so Kip doesn’t see him for a bit. One evening, Kip is working his other job at the caterers for a children's charity fundraiser. He is shocked to see Scott there (as a guest obviously) and Scott is pleasantly surprised to see Kip. As the event is wrapping up, he sees Kip cleaning up some tables and wanders over to him. He asks Kip if he’d like to go get a burger when he’s all done. Of course Kip wants to. They chat easily and Scott tells him that it's nice being out with Kip, just being allowed to be Scott and not Scott Hunter, NHL god. He makes subtle comments about never doing something like this at home and Kip gets what he’s putting down - Scott’s gay but in the closet. Kip’s basically like, bitch I can keep a secret, let’s get out of here.

Scott takes Kip back to his penthouse and after they hook up, Kip is collecting his clothes. Scott tells him he doesn’t need to leave - he can spend the night if he wants. Kip just assumes that this is a hit and quit it, one night stand, type of situation but he agrees to spend the night. In the morning, Scott has to rush off for practice but tells Kip he’ll see him again the next morning because he needs his good luck smoothie. The next day, Kip is working with Maria, so they have to pretend as if they didn’t spend the previous day banging. When Scott hands Kip money for his smoothie, he slips a piece of paper with his phone number on it and “Sunday” written on it. Sunday being Scott’s next day off.

For some reason, Kip doesn’t text him until Sunday. Scott got all concerned that maybe he wasn’t going to text or maybe he lost his number. Scott asks him to come over whenever. They spend all day together. Kip asks Scott if he’ll be going to this fancy gala in a few days. Scott says he is and asks if Kip is working it (not to be condensing, just curious). Kip says no, he got invited by his best friend, Elena, who works for the company throwing it. Scott is a little sad. He really likes Kip and he knows that he’ll see him at the event, might be able to talk to him, but he won’t be able to BE with him there. He won’t be able to touch him, kiss him, or dance with him. Because god forbid, a hockey player comes out of the closet. Scott tells Kip that he never dates anyone, never brings anyone back to his penthouse, and that he has to stay hidden. He says he never really thought he was missing out but now he thinks maybe he just hadn’t met the right person. Scott tells him that he wants to try this with Kip but that he doesn’t know how. Kip tells him he’s okay with being his little secret and that they can just keep it casual. Scott tells him he doesn't want him to settle and Kips like oh yeah, settling for a hot, rich, NHL hockey player, poor me.

Scott asks Kip if he has a tux for the gala. Kip says he doesn’t but he’ll just rent one. Scott tells him to just go to Hugo Boss store and they can get him a tux and put it on Scotts tab. Kip is like…ummm no and that’s not exactly being discreet, won’t they want to know why Scott is paying for another man’s tux? Scott wants Kip to borrow one of his and get it tailored then. Scott really wants to take care of Kip. He hasn’t had anyone to take care of or spend his money on but Kip doesn’t want to feel like a charity case. He finally agrees to take one of his tuxes though.

They spend Valentine’s Day together in Scott’s penthouse. Scott makes him dinner, gives him a massage, and they take a long hot bath together, and spend a lot of time talking (and fucking). Scott gives Kip his tickets for every home game. Kip takes his dad or Elena. Elena knows about them, but she is the only one who does.

Kip has a lot of negative feelings about himself at times. He already felt like his life wasn’t going the way he wanted and now, he has this amazing boyfriend, and who is he? A nobody. Who lives with his parents. And works at a smoothie shop. Scott could literally give 2 fucks about any of that but it bothers Kip. He applies for a job at a museum and it doesn’t help his confidence when he doesn’t get it. He decides maybe he should get his masters and teach so he applies for grad programs.

At the gala, Scott is sad that he can’t just be open and out and be there with Kip. He dances with Elena though and, like a good best friend does, she threatens to ruin his life if he hurts Kip. One of his teammates and best friends, Carter, sees them dancing and comes to the conclusion that they are together. Rather than tell the truth, Scott just lets him think that.

The next day, Scott is packing for his nine days of road games while Kip watches him. Scott tells Kip he could stay at Scott's penthouse if he wanted to while he was gone, since it's closer to Kip’s work than his parents' Brooklyn place. Scott leaves but comes back a few minutes later and tells Kip that he knows it's only been a few weeks but he’s in love with him and he couldn’t leave without telling him. Kip tells him he loves him too.

Nine days is a long time for Kip to get in his own head though. With Scott being gone, even with texting him and face timing him, then with getting the rejection letter from the museum, Kip is having a lot of thoughts. What if Scott realizes when he gets back that he can do much better than Kip? What if Scott doesn’t want to risk his career for Kip? What if Scott is just confused because this is his first relationship and he’s going to realize he doesn’t actually love Kip? What if Scott never comes out and Kip stays his dirty little secret forever?

9 days later, Scott is finally home, and it's Kip's birthday. Scott didn’t know what to get him, and he’s bad at this relationship thing, so he writes him a check for fifty thousand dollars. Yes, you read that correctly. He wants to pay off Kip’s student loans. He tries to explain that he has all this money and no one to spend it on and he just wants to take care of Kip. Kip is taken back and offended. He tells Scott he can’t take his money, that he isn’t some charity case, and honestly - wtf. Scott doesn’t really understand what he did that wasn’t right but he apologizes. Kip goes out with his friends for his birthday. He invites Scott but Scott tells him he can’t go. Not out with Kip in public. Not out to a gay bar. He just can’t. He picks Kip up though when he's drunk and takes him back to his place. He tells Kip the next day that he felt awful for not being able to go and Kip again wonders if Scott will ever come out.

Scott asks Kip to go to a museum with him on Saturday. But they have to be discreet.

Unfortunately, they aren’t that discreet. Scott gets spotted and their pictures end up all over social media. Not that they were doing anything, they weren’t even touching. But Scott freaks out anyways. He tells Kip that he’s really sorry that this is how it is but with the playoffs starting soon, he just can’t be outed right now. Kip says he understands but he’s getting really frustrated. Kip tries to tell himself that he will let it go until after the playoffs.

Kip spends the playoffs getting more and more down on himself. It doesn’t help that he’s alone a lot. The playoffs are intense so Scott is busy and Kip feels like he is just sitting around waiting for Scott all the time. Scott doesn’t mean to be absent but … playoffs man. But he starts to feel Kip pulling away when he gets home one night and Kip isn’t there. He texts him but Kip says he isn’t coming over tonight and he’s short with him. The next night, Kip isn’t there but Scott asks him to please come over. Kip goes over and they talk. Kip tells him that he understands, he does, and he isn’t asking for anything right now anyways he understands the playoffs and all that, but he can’t do this forever. He feels like Scott’s dirty little secret and its fucking with his head. Scott tries to tell him that it's not like that but this is how it has to be. Kip is like is it? Do you even know for sure that it has to be like this?

They don’t talk for a week. Scott has playoffs out of town. Kip feels like a selfish asshole but a lonely selfish asshole. Kip is at his favorite gay bar in town, with his favorite bartender, Kyle, who is flirting with him. Kip gets way too drunk and Kyle offers to walk with him to the subway. Kyle misinterprets the situation and kisses Kip. Kip kisses him back and then immediately jumps away and is like omg I can’t do this I’m sorry.

Meanwhile, Scott gets into his first fight in a long time during a game. Ends up with busted up knuckles and in the penalty box. His teammates know something is going on but he insists that he’s fine.

The next day, Kip is at a Barnes and Noble and runs into Kyle. They get a coffee, as friends, and Kip tells him about his situation with Scott. Without saying who Scott is. Kyle encourages him to talk to Scott and work through it if he really loves him. He spends all day trying to think about what to text him. His dad brings in a letter from NYU - Kip got accepted. His dad tells him he can tell that he’s been feeling down and are they fighting, because the playoffs are a busy time. Kip is like wtf are you talking about. His dad tells him that he could tell the night that Scott got hurt on the ice. His dad also encourages him to talk to Scott.

The next day, Scott comes into the smoothie shop. Right in front of Maria, he asks Kip if they can talk later. Kip says yes but he has something to do after work and then Scott has the game. Scott asks Kip to come to the game and maybe talk after? Kip agrees. Maria is flabbergasted.

After he wins, Scott goes back to his penthouse to where Kip is waiting for him. He apologizes to him. Tells him that he doesn’t want to lose Kip but he doesn’t know what to do. Kip apologizes for putting pressure on him during the playoffs but he really thinks they need to revisit this after the season is over. Kip tells Scott that he got into NYU and just took a job as a bartender at the gay bar he loves.

The next night, while in a hotel for an away game, Scott decides he can’t wait until playoffs are over, he wants to start telling people and making a plan. He calls his agent first. His agent is like that’s great, I don’t care if you're gay, but please god don’t tell anyone. After they talk for a bit, his agent starts to think of other brands that might be interested in Scott if he’s gay and Scott knows he has him on board.

The next morning, he invites his three best friends and teammates, Carter, Bennett, and Huff, to his room to tell them. None of them care but they are shocked. Bennett was the least shocked of all. Carter is more upset that Scott never told and felt like he couldn’t. They want to hear all about Kip and see a picture of him.

Two nights later, after winning the game, Scott shows up at Kip’s home. His mom is super shocked and when Kip tries to introduce Scott as his friend, Scott corrects him and says actually I’m his boyfriend. He stays and has dinner with them and then Kip goes back to his penthouse. He tells Kip that he’s told his agent and three teammates and that he has a plan. After they hook up, Scott asks Kip to move in with him.

Before the finals, Scott tells his coach about him being gay and that he is going to announce after the playoffs are over. His coach was one of the first black NHL players and tells Scott he doesn’t envy him. His coach dealt with everything being about the color of his skin and now everything Scott does will be overshadowed by who he shares his bed with. But he supports him coming out.

The final game of the Stanley Cup arrives. Of course, Scott’s team wins. Afterward, all the spouses and families are coming onto to the ice and Scott is like fuck it and skates over to where Kip is sitting. He gestures for him to head down to the penalty box area and then hauls him over the side and kisses him. Kip is shocked and was like well that’s one way to do it. He then takes Kip over to Huff and his family and turns around, looks at the media, and says “Any questions?”

In the locker room, Carter can’t wait to talk to Kip. Carter, Bennett, and Huff make Kip feel welcome. None of the rest of the team says anything or acts off but there are a few confused looks.

Epilogue is at the NHL awards in Las Vegas. Scott wins the MVP award and when he accepts it, he gives a speech about why he decided to come out and that he hopes the league will be accepting and he hopes that it will help others who are hiding. After the show, they go to a gay club that is having a “Scott Hunter night” and his three best friends/teammates go, along with a few others. And who shows up? Mr. Ilya Rozanov. He’s just there to support him and tell him that what he did was good and he’s glad he did it.

If you’re wondering who Ilya Rozanov is? Well … you find out all about him in Book 2.