She has a file full of bruises shaped like a skate blade.He's the man trying to keep his out of it.Sophie Chen photographs what everyone else looks away from.She's seen the pattern. Seventeen players. Three years. The same deliberate mark on the same ribs, the kind you only get when a man drops his stick and uses the edge on purpose, where the refs can't see.She came to the arena for evidence. She found Liam Gallagher walking out of the tunnel like he was wading through deep water.The enforcer. Nine years of damage written across his body. A scar through one eyebrow, knuckles that gave up being smooth.To the league, he's a contract that bleeds on command.To Sophie, he's the next photo in a file no one will ever let her publish.She takes a cheap shot. He takes it worse than the slash. And the way he looks at her, like she's the one holding the blade, is the moment everything changes.Because the bruises lead somewhere. To Jake Morrison, the man who signs the checks and smiles at galas and squeezes until something breaks. To a small town. To a secret. To a hidden heir who ties Liam to a past he's spent his whole career outskating.The deeper Sophie digs, the more she risks the one man she swore she'd never get attached to.Then it all comes apart in public, and Liam finds her and says: "You want the truth? Then stop shooting it and listen to it."That's the moment the story stops being a story.Now the photographer who keeps the world at lens-length has to choose. The shot that could end a career, or the man it would destroy.But second chances don't come with a clear frame. And some secrets, once developed, can't be put back in the dark.High Stick is an emotional, slow-burn second-chance sports romance about a reluctant enforcer, a fearless photographer, small-town secrets, a hidden heir, forced proximity, and the family they almost lost.Perfect for readers who love second-chance hockey romance, grumpy-sunshine tension, found-family stakes, slow-burn heat, and a hard-won happy ending. A standalone sports romance.