Repair and Prepare by Hinsel Meyer

Jules
One of the hardest lessons I’ve learned is that the only thing I need is hockey – because hockey has never let me down, never abandoned me. What I lack in my personal life, I make up for with my professional achievements. I’m damn proud of the career I’ve had in the NHL and have no plans of stopping or jeopardizing it by coming out.
That is until I meet Sterling.
He does the unthinkable, he gives me hope, makes me wish for more… and then dashes those hopes and wishes to dust.
In the aftermath, I become someone I don’t particularly like, but that someone doesn’t really care either.
Then, it’s hockey—once more—that saves me.
So yeah, hockey is all I have and all I need.

Sterling
I know I f***ed up.
That I had an excellent reason not to contact Jules after I promised I would—after all my life was a tornado at the time—doesn’t mean I didn’t f*ck up.
I know it and I’m prepared to fix this mess now that I moved to Vegas permanently.
But the man I met more than two years ago is nowhere to be found. The one who opens the door when I come knocking isn’t the sweet boy who desperately wanted someone to take care of him.
No, this man is cynical and detached. Worst of all, he’s hell-bent on never giving me anything real again.
No matter how brief our time was, I know he’s the only person—and I’ve met a lot of people—who’s ever made me want more.
So yes, I’ll fight to repair what I broke and then hopefully we’ll prepare for the rest of our lives together.
The only question is, will it all be in vain?