One night. One mistake she swore she'd never repeat.Then the test came back positive.Ella Vance is the best trainer Swift River Hockey has ever had.She reads a body like a book.She knows when a knee is about to give before the player does.What she can't do is fix the one thing that's about to wreck her career.Beckett Stone is thirty-one, twice cut open, riding a professional tryout like it's his last shot at the show.Because it is.He's the journeyman who keeps a frayed lace in his jacket pocket and a grief he never talks about.She's the woman who told him, flat as ice, to stop favoring his right leg.They had one night they agreed to forget.Now she's carrying his child, and the only career that ever made either of them feel whole hangs on no one finding out.Then the team doctor pulls her aside, file open, and asks the question that ends everything: "Whose is it, Ella?"She could lie.She could run.She's good at running—she left a man at an altar once and never looked back.But Beck doesn't beg.He just stays.He learns her coffee.He sits through the ultrasound.He stands between her and the locker-room talk like a defenseman who already chose his net.A trade is coming.A choice is coming.And Ella has to decide whether the last chance at forever is worth the only future she ever planned for herself.Some hits you see coming. This one she didn't.Backcheck is a steamy and emotional hockey romance about an accidental pregnancy, a one-night stand, a runaway bride, a wounded grumpy hero, and a last chance at forever that has to be earned one honest shift at a time.Perfect for readers who love sports romance, secret-pregnancy drama, a damaged athlete with a heart, slow-burn second chances, and a hard-earned happy ending. A standalone romance with a happily-ever-after.