She watched her brother take the hit that killed him.The trainer said he was fine.He went back in. He scored the winner.By morning, Tyler was gone.Ella Chen made a promise in that windowless hospital room, holding his lucky stick.I won't let another player die because someone didn't know what they were looking at.Seven years later, she's the best athletic trainer in the league, and she keeps that promise every single day.Then there's Connor MacGregor.Billboard jaw. Blue eyes. Never lost a game of anything in his life. And right now he's standing in the weight room of Rogers Arena, lying through his teeth about a knee that's clearly screaming."You're favoring your left leg," she tells him.He smiles like that'll make her forget.It won't.Because Ella knows exactly what it looks like when a man decides he's invincible. She buried the last one. She still has his stick, the tape peeling at the heel, the dent near the blade from a slapshot he took the week before he died.What she doesn't expect is the slow burn underneath the fight.The late nights taping him back together.The rooftop where he finally stops performing.The way the boy she used to be afraid to need becomes the man she can't stop wanting, and the only thing scarier than losing him is letting herself want him at all.Then the leak hits. A secret she trusted him with goes public, the trade rumors start, and the whole thing detonates in front of the entire league.Now Connor has to choose between the body that made him famous and the woman who taught him it was worth protecting.And Ella has to decide whether loving an athlete means breaking the only promise that ever mattered.Some hits you see coming.This one she didn't.Body Check is a steamy, emotional second-chance sports romance about a grieving heroine, a friends-to-lovers slow burn, public humiliation, forbidden workplace attraction, a guarded golden boy, and a love worth getting checked into the boards for.Perfect for readers who love hockey romance, slow-burn friends-to-lovers, a strong heroine and a himbo with a heart, grovel, and emotional sports romance with a happy ending. A standalone with a hard-earned HEA.