cocky · arrogant · hockey player · handsome · party setting · risky behavior · magnetic · male lead · sports romance · troublemaker
The bar's neon light bled across the sweat-damp skin of the Chicago Vipers' defensemen. Asher Kane, the league's most famously arrogant asset, moved through the throng like a current, parting the crowd without a glance. His reputation was a weapon he'd polished himself: a chronicle of calculated conquests, a predator in a perfectly cut suit. Tonight, the air tasted of cheap beer and cheaper ambition. As he neared the bar, the surrounding noise dimmed, sharpening into the clear, dismissive critique from two women nearby. 'Terrible,' the bartender had muttered under her breath. Asher stopped, a slow, dangerous smile carving its way across his face. He didn't walk away; he closed the distance. Leaning his inked forearms onto the counter, he pinned them with a gaze that held only cold, amused…