On the Line by Amanda Chaperon
Two years ago, professional hockey player Mitch Frambough and headhunter Lexie Monroe met on a late-October night and sparks flew. They fell hard for each other, and everyone thought they were endgame.
But now they’re not together.
In fact, they don’t even live in the same state.
When Mitch was traded from the Warriors to the Los Angeles Knights, his entire life changed with one phone call. His relationship with Lexie was in ruins, and the only way he could prevent further heartbreak was to leave Michigan without a backwards glance. Except, when his life is once again upended in a split second, he finds himself back in the Mitten. Surprisingly, everyone welcomes him home with open arms. Everyone except the one person he desperately wants: Lexie.
Lexie has never believed in love, and for good reason. The one time she gave it a shot—her relationship with Mitch—it ended in disaster. Now she’s washed her hands of the whole thing: love, relationships, him. Having him clear across the country helped. But when he returns to Detroit, everyone in her life is begging her to give him another chance. The only problem is Mitch doesn’t seem interested. Plus, she’d be stupid to let him close enough to break her again.
Call it karma or the gods or fate, but something has drawn these two back together. And now it’s time for them to choose: either they put their hearts on the line again, or they walk away for good this time.
After all, how often does love get a second chance?
AGE RANGE: 18+
TRIGGER WARNINGS: Please note this book contains an alcoholic parent, traumatic injury, using alcohol and sex as a bandaid for emotional pain, emotionally unavailable parents/issues of abandonment, strong language, and explicit sex.
“Look…” he said, unsure of how to begin. It had been a very long time since he’d had a conversation like this, and this might be the most important of them all. There had never been so much on the line. If he couldn’t get Lexie to see his side of things and understand that even if they hadn’t officially labeled anything, they were as-good-as in a relationship, he didn’t know what he would do. Because if this conversation didn’t go well, he would likely lose her completely.
And that was unacceptable.
“I’m just gonna say it. I’m crazy about you. And this,” he gestured between their naked bodies, “isn’t enough for me anymore, and I think you feel the same.”
“I don’t,” she said, propping herself on her elbow to turn away from him, but Mitch held fast, wrapping his arm tighter around her. She wasn’t going to get away that easy.
“And I don’t believe you.” He sat up and rolled so she was trapped under him. “Lexie, this hasn’t been just sex for us in a long time. It’s been seven months since we met. Why are you still lying to yourself? And me? You’re only hurting us both right now, honey,” he said, tracing his fingers along her cheekbone and jaw.
“Because I don’t know how to do this!” She shoved him so abruptly that the sheer surprise of it had Mitch sitting back on his heels, giving her the opening she needed to put some distance between them.
“And you think I do?”
“I think you’re a lot better at deeply emotional relationships than I am,” she whispered, hanging her head.
Hopping off the bed, Mitch moved so he was standing in front of her, struck by how strange it was to have such a serious conversation when they were both completely naked.
But if that’s what it took to make this woman his girlfriend, his everything, then so be it.
“Lexie, honey,” he said, scooping her hair out of her face and lifting her chin to gaze into the golden depths of her eyes. “We’ve been doing this relationship thing for months without putting the actual label on it. You realize that, don’t you?”
Amanda Chaperon realized her passion for books, and for writing, at a young age. Growing up, she was rarely found without a book in her hands, a hobby she carried into adulthood. After joining bookstagram in 2020, she felt the pull to try her hand at novel writing. FOR THE BOYS is her first novel, but it won’t be her last.She currently lives in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula with her two-year-old Golden Retriever, and is a legal secretary by day. You can follow her on Instagram at @written.word.nerd.
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