Holiday Face-Off

Eli needs a fake boyfriend to save his career. André needs cash to save his family home. A simple holiday transaction... what could possibly go wrong?

Defenseman, Eli Bergeron's pro hockey career is in the slush. After a shoulder injury compounded with a messy public scandal slides him away from his NHL dreams, he needs to look locker room stable for the scouts, and he needs it stat. His solution: hire a boyfriend for the holidays. It's a business deal. No feelings, no problem.

Swamp tour guide André Thibodeaux has a million-dollar smile and about ten bucks to his name. Thanks to a loan shark and his grandma's gambling habit, his family's home is about to be sunk. So when a grumpy, stupidly hot hockey player offers him a pile of cash to play a part? André can certainly score some Christmas cheer. He has to.

But their simple contract gets complicated fast. André's genuine Cajun charm gets under Eli's skin in a way no one ever has, and the quiet way Eli has his back feels dangerously real.

One freak Louisiana storm, one flooded road, and one very small honeymoon B&B with only one bed… and their entire charade relationship combusts. Now, the only thing fake is pretending their hearts aren't on the line. But Eli is keeping a secret that could shatter André's trust, and André's pride might just be the one thing he can't afford to lose.

Holiday Face-Off is a slow-burn Christmas MM hockey romance set in Baton Rouge — fake dating with a signed contract, grumpy meets sunshine, forced proximity with only one bed, hurt/comfort after an old betrayal, and a Cajun found-family Christmas on the bayou. Slow burn with a cinematic fade — all the heat, all the feeling. This story is an interconnected standalone in the Rougarous Hockey subseries, part of the Bayou Boys world.