This summer wasn't supposed to mean anything. Just late-night drives, beach walks, and someone to pass the time with. Macklin had his plans. Iris had hers. And whatever this was between them? It was never supposed to be more than... easy. But some things don't stay simple for long.

lena morales keeps her head down, working as a locker room assistant for the san jose sharks to help her struggling family. invisible among NHL stars, she only opens up to a few trusted players--collin graf, michael misa, sam dickinson, and will smith-until macklin celebrini, the confident star who hasn't noticed her, begins crossing her path. quiet glances and accidental encounters slowly shift the space between them, forcing lena to navigate her responsibilities, friendships, and a connection that could change everything.

At the 2026 Winter Olympics, the world watches for gold. Tasha Foster has spent her entire life chasing perfection. As Team Canada's rising figure skating star, every jump, every spin, every breath is calculated. One mistake could cost her the Olympic podium - and the dream she's trained for since she was a little girl lacing up her first pair of skates. Across the Olympic Village, Macklin Celebrini is fighting a different kind of battle. Hockey is fast, brutal, and relentless. There are no second chances in a medal round, no room for hesitation when the puck drops. He thrives under pressure - until the pressure starts to come from somewhere unexpected. They meet between practices, between interviews, between the weight of a nation's expectations. He watches her skate in silence, heart pounding louder than any arena crowd. She sits in the stands at his games, flinching at every hit, holding her breath on every breakaway.

Raised on hockey rinks and lifelong friendships, Clara Hayes thought she understood what it meant to stay. As a photographer for the San Jose Sharks, she's surrounded by the game that shaped her-and by people who feel like home. But when her quiet connection with Macklin Celebrini begins to blur the lines between friendship and something more, it starts to mean choosing growth over comfort, and love over fear.

elaine evans is twenty years old, a once-in-a-generation voice, and the newest name etched into grammy history. macklin celebrini is hockey's golden boy, built from discipline, pressure, and the kind of focus that never cracks on the ice. they come from worlds that aren't supposed to overlap-until one night in los angeles, surrounded by flashing cameras, expensive champagne, and people who only know how to be famous, they find each other in the quiet spaces between it all. she doesn't want to be another headline. he doesn't know how to want something that isn't hockey. and neither of them expects a connection that feels like music-soft at first, then impossible to ignore.

Lex has always kept her priorities straight; focus on nursing school, avoid unnecessary distractions, and keep her guard up. As Will's best friend, she's spent plenty of time around hockey players, but none of them have ever made her second-guess herself. Then there's Macklin Celebrini, easygoing, patient, and nothing like she expected. What starts as harmless banter soon turns into something deeper, forcing Lex to confront feelings she isn't sure she's ready for. As the lines between friendship and something more begin to blur, she's faced with a choice: keep her walls up or take a chance on the one person who just might prove that some risks are worth taking. Started: March 21, 2025 Completed: April 13, 2025 Total word count: 104,937 words ~ Behind the Glass Series, book #1 ~ Disclaimer: it is not needed to read the books in order but recommended for the best experience!

Blair and Macklin crossed paths by accident. Having the same best friend has perks, but now something in both of them shifted. They weren't strangers anymore; they became apart of each other's story in a way that couldn't be undone. Even now when they aren't speaking, life somehow brings them back together when they least expect it.

Scarlett Knox is about to make history. Drafted second overall into the NHL, she becomes the first woman ever selected-and the world is watching. But behind the cameras, the flashing lights, and the pressure of proving she belongs, Scarlett finds herself pulled into something even more terrifying than hockey. Because Macklin Celebrini, the first overall pick and her new teammate, might just be the one person who truly understands her. And somewhere between the dark draft room, the loud arenas, and quiet late nights, Scarlett realizes she isn't just chasing her dream... she's falling in love. M.C. X OC Start: feb 17 2026 Finish:/ #1 in Draft (03/03/2026)

paige bedard learned early that loving something meant sacrificing for it. the early mornings, missed birthdays, and the quiet pressure of carrying a last name hockey already knew. but, there was always one place she didn't have to be paige bedard: connor bedard's little sister, captain of the wisconsin badgers, alternate captain for Team Canada, and star forward of the vancouver goldeneyes. it was the place she could just be paige and that place was wherever macklin celebrini was. they met at thirteen, two north vancouver kids with dreams too big for their bodies. he stayed on the ice after everyone left. she stayed with him. driveways became rinks, summer nights became promises, and somewhere between shared playlists, lake days, and silent understanding, paige fell in love with him. she just never told him. he was macklin, her best friend. her almost. because almost was safer than losing him completely. then, came the leaving- he went to boston to chase the NHL. she went to wisconsin, where she became captain and one of the most dominant players in college hockey before returning home as the face of the goldeneyes. phone calls became texts and texts became nothing. years passed, but feelings didn't. now, at nineteen, paige stands at center ice in milan with a silver medal around her neck and an "A" over her heart. a loss she can't escape. hockey, for the first time, doesn't feel like enough. until she sees him... across a city thousands of miles from where they began, macklin stands there and suddenly she's thirteen again. macklin was never just her first love, he was her unfinished one and some people, no matter how far you skate or how much time passes... you always find your way back to them.

Quinn Taylor has made a career out of looking calm. On the ice, she's America's favorite kind of pressure-proof-bright smile, steady answers, the skater everyone wants to root for. Off the ice, she's an only child with a perfectionist's brain and a habit of carrying too much alone. The cameras love her. The country expects her. And the one place she can't afford to fall apart is the one place she's dreamed of since she was little. The Olympics. Macklin Celebrini has always made things feel lighter. He was the new kid at a Northern California rink at twelve-Canadian, polite, a little lost-until Quinn decided he was hers to keep. He became her best friend in the cold air and early mornings, the person who could make her laugh mid-breakdown and never ask her to perform for him. Then life did what life does: seasons changed, schedules got brutal, distance widened, and the kind of friendship that felt unbreakable turned into occasional texts and quiet missing. Now they're both back where the world is loudest. At the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, Quinn is chasing the skate of her life for Team USA. Mack is carrying his own weight for Team Canada hockey. When reporters find out they grew up together, the story writes itself-childhood friends reunited, smiles caught on camera, a thousand strangers deciding what they are to each other. The only problem is... the strangers aren't entirely wrong. Between past chapters at a small California rink and present days in the Olympic Village, Quinn and Mack have to figure out what they really meant to each other then-and what they're allowed to be now, with medals on the line and the whole world watching. Because it's one thing to love someone quietly from a distance. It's another to have them show up in your life again and make everything feel possible.