Five Hole
A Chicago Sentinels Novel
by Rowan Black
Pairing: MF
Heat: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ Inferno
Series: Chicago Sentinels #1
Tropes: Enemies to Lovers, Forced Proximity, Grumpy/Sunshine, He Falls First, Sports Romance, Workplace Romance
She’s the journalist investigating his team’s corruption scandal. He’s the captain protecting secrets that could destroy everything. When the walls between them crumble, they’ll discover that the most dangerous play is falling for the enemy.
Sloane Sterling has spent her career chasing truth. When she’s assigned to investigate the Chicago Sentinels’ front office scandal, she expects corporate greed and buried secrets. What she doesn’t expect is Declan O’Rourke—the team’s legendary goalie, a man built like a fortress and twice as impenetrable. He’s arrogant, infuriating, and determined to shut down her investigation before it destroys his team.
Declan “The Wall” O’Rourke earned his nickname by never letting anything through—not pucks, not emotions, not the grief he’s been carrying since his brother’s death. The last thing he needs is a sharp-tongued journalist digging into secrets that could ruin the people he’s sworn to protect. But Sloane Sterling doesn’t play by his rules, and every clash between them feels less like combat and more like foreplay.
When they’re forced to work together to expose the real corruption, the ice between them begins to melt. But Declan has been guarding his five hole—his greatest vulnerability—for years. And Sloane is about to slip right through it.
In a game where everyone has something to hide, the most dangerous move is letting someone see the real you.
You’ll love this if you enjoy:
✓ Grumpy hockey captain x fierce journalist
✓ “I hate you” to “I can’t live without you”
✓ He falls first and falls HARD
✓ Forced proximity that leads to explosive chemistry
✓ Protective hero who meets his match
✓ Workplace tension that ignites into passion
✓ Stanley Cup victory + locker room proposal
✓ Guaranteed HEA with wedding epilogue
⚠️ Content Warning
This book contains explicit MF sexual content including: multiple detailed intimate scenes, possessive/claiming behavior, praise kink, and intense emotional themes. Themes include grief, addiction (off-page, past), family trauma, and workplace ethics. All intimate scenes feature enthusiastic consent.
Reader discretion advised. This book is intended for mature audiences only.
💬 Notable Quotes
“The five hole isn’t a weakness. It’s an opening. A place where something can get through. And sometimes the things that get through are the things that save you.”
“I’d rather be scared with you than safe without you.”
“You found every crack in my defense, every weakness I’d spent years trying to hide. And instead of using them against me, you loved me through them.”
📖 Read Chapter One Free
Chapter One: The Wall
The press room at The Fortress smelled like industrial carpet cleaner and desperation.
Sloane Sterling had been in enough locker rooms and media centers to recognize the particular cocktail of anxiety that preceded a scandal breaking wide open. The PR team was huddled in the corner, phones pressed to ears, faces arranged in expressions of carefully calibrated concern. The beat reporters were checking their watches, scrolling through phones, pretending they weren’t all waiting for blood in the water.
She was waiting too. But unlike the rest of them, she knew exactly whose blood it would be.
The door to the media room swung open, and the temperature dropped ten degrees.
Declan O’Rourke walked in like he owned the building—which, given his twelve-year tenure with the Sentinels and his status as the highest-paid goaltender in the league, he practically did. Six-foot-three of barely contained intensity, with shoulders broad enough to block a truck and a jaw that looked like it had been carved from granite by someone with a grudge against soft edges.
The Wall, they called him. And looking at him now—gray eyes scanning the room like he was cataloging threats, mouth set in a line that suggested smiling was a concept he’d heard about but never personally experienced—Sloane understood why.
He was beautiful in the way that dangerous things were beautiful. In the way that avalanches and riptides were beautiful. The kind of beautiful that made you forget that beautiful things could still destroy you.
Focus, she told herself. You’re here for a story, not to ogle the merchandise.
She raised her hand before any of the other reporters could get their questions in. “Mr. O’Rourke, Sloane Sterling, Chicago Tribune. Can you comment on the allegations that the Sentinels front office has been manipulating draft picks for financial gain?”
Those gray eyes locked onto her like targeting systems acquiring a threat. For a moment, the entire room held its breath…
…
🔥 Want an EXCLUSIVE Bonus Chapter?
“Cup Night” — A 4,500-word exclusive bonus scene
After winning the Stanley Cup, Declan takes Sloane home for a private celebration. With the trophy watching from the living room and champagne still cold in the fridge, he shows her exactly how a champion claims his prize. Features ice play, championship worship, and the kind of possessive passion that comes from finally having everything you ever wanted.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this book part of a series?
Five Hole is Book 1 in the Chicago Sentinels series—standalone romances connected by the world of professional hockey. Each book features a different couple and can be read in any order. Complete HEA guaranteed!
How spicy is this book?
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ — This is a 5/5 heat level book with multiple explicit scenes throughout. Features include possessive hero, praise kink, and a slow burn that explodes into scorching passion.
Is there a happily ever after?
Absolutely! Declan and Sloane get their complete HEA with a Stanley Cup victory, locker room proposal, beautiful wedding, Irish honeymoon, and a baby in the epilogue. No cliffhangers!
What about the sports content?
You don’t need to know anything about hockey to enjoy this book! The hockey elements add tension and atmosphere, but the focus is on the relationship. That said, hockey fans will appreciate the authentic locker room dynamics, game-day tension, and playoff drama.
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