Same Team

A College Ice Hockey Romance

By: Joan Amanda Raymond

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

She almost destroyed everything. Now she has to fight to keep it.
Carmen Anatov has always known exactly who she is: a hockey player, a competitor, a woman who goes after what she wants. At nineteen, she's the leading scorer on Wisconsin's women's hockey team and deeply in love with Larry Reynolds, the charming center who made her feel like the only person in any room.

But something has changed. Larry cancels plans constantly. He's physically present but emotionally absent. The man who used to look at her like she hung the moon now stares through her like she's made of glass.

Carmen tells herself it's just a rough patch. She tells herself to be patient. She tells herself that wanting more doesn't make her selfish.

Then Marcus Webb slides into her DMs.

The football player's attention is specific, relentless, and intoxicating. He notices the details of her game that even her coaches miss. He makes her feel wanted in ways Larry hasn't managed in months. What starts as friendly messages becomes flirtation, then explicit photos, then a kiss that shatters every lie Carmen has told herself about who she is.

Standing naked before her mirror, about to send a photo that will cross the final line, Carmen finally sees the truth: she's become someone she doesn't recognize. And the only way back is through the hardest conversation of her life.

Same Team is a searingly honest new adult romance about the messy reality of love, depression, and betrayal. It's about two imperfect people who hurt each other and have to decide if what they're building is worth the pain of staying. It's about the difference between falling in love and choosing to stay—every single day.

This is not a story where forgiveness comes easily or trust is rebuilt overnight. This is a story about doing the work. About therapy sessions, difficult conversations, and the slow, painful process of becoming worthy of the person you love.

For readers who love:

• Complex, flawed characters you'll root for anyway
• Realistic portrayals of depression and mental health
• Explicit heat that serves the emotional story
• Sports romance with authentic athletic detail
• Second-chance themes within an existing relationship
• Earned happy endings

Content notes: Explicit sexual content, emotional affair, depression and therapy depicted on-page, mature themes throughout.