USA Today bestseller Delancey Stewart brings you an all-new sports romcom series that will have you snorting and swooning at the same time. Meet the Wilcox Wombats. Up first? Introducing The Wedding Winger, Sly Remington.

I play pro hockey.

But despite being admittedly talented and unquestionably tough (not to mention devastatingly handsome), my future after the game is dangling precariously on thin ice.

I've been set on earning an MBA in the off-season, but a surprise wedding and a maternal summons means my summer study plans vanish like a hockey rink in a heatwave.

Enter Clara Connor: my high school math tutor, my unattainable teenage crush, and now my divorced next-door neighbor and mom of a mischievous little blond whirlwind named Katie.

My past is chirping in my ear and the gloves are definitely off.

Clara’s brilliant. She's beautiful. She's a force of nature (I mean… she wrestles bears for a living). And she’s still leagues away from a jock like me.

My pursuit of an MBA? Not exactly a hat trick. But Clara steps in with an offer to help.

And suddenly, I'm right back in high school - pining over the mathlete next door and wishing I had a snowball's chance in hell with her.

As Clara and I begin to spend more time together, and mom's matchmaking efforts become as transparent as ice after the Zamboni goes by, I need to figure out who I am off the rink.

Can I ever match up to a woman like Clara? Or will I forever be stuck in the penalty box of her perception, just the jock next door?

Alex Kydd

Stem