Kiss and Don't Tell (the Vancouver Agitators, #1)

Pacey Lawes, the star goalie for the Vancouver Agitators professional hockey team, opens by confessing he has made the biggest mistake of his life, one involving love. He has never been in love before, and this is his account of how he found it and nearly lost it.

After a crushing playoff elimination, Pacey and four teammates retreat to Silas Tatters's cabin in Banff, Canada, for their annual off-season getaway. Pacey cannot stop replaying the goal he failed to block. His teammates try to coax him into relaxing: defenseman Eli Hornsby, a charming ladies' man; Levi Posey, a lovable bruiser; Tatters, bitter over a recent breakup; and center Halsey Holmes, who bluntly tells Pacey he froze on the final shot because he still carries fear from a head injury earlier in the season.

That night, a violent thunderstorm knocks out cell service and the internet. A soaking-wet young woman named Winnie knocks on the door, her car stuck in the mud. The group lets her inside, staging a comical demonstration with umbrellas and coasters to prove they are professional hockey players. Pacey feels she looks familiar. Winnie is immediately drawn to Pacey's quiet intensity and senses something familiar about him too.

Winnie stays the night. The next morning, Pacey insists on helping her find her car, and they hike the muddy roads with growing chemistry. They locate her Mini Cooper buried in mud, but it rolls into a deeper ditch requiring a professional tow. The group agrees Winnie can stay at the cabin. That evening, Pacey's father calls: His estranged half-brother, Josh, wants to reconnect. Josh is the product of their father's one-night stand. He appeared when Pacey was 14, rejected the family, moved to Seattle, and cut them off entirely.

Winnie FaceTimes her best friends in Seattle: Katherine, a safety-obsessed worrier, and Max, who encourages her to enjoy this time after tremendous loss. One evening, Pacey invites Winnie to share cider and play a custom Jenga game with personal questions on the blocks. Winnie reveals her ex Josh never prioritized her pleasure. She mentions Josh by name, and Pacey realizes where he recognizes her: She is the girlfriend from old Facebook photos his father posted during a visit to Josh in Seattle. Pacey confides in Posey but keeps the connection secret, fearing it would ruin his chance with Winnie.

As they explore Banff together, Winnie reveals her backstory: Her mother was born in Banff, ran a beloved used bookstore in Seattle, and died of a brain tumor. Winnie dropped out of a business degree Josh pressured her into and became her mother's caregiver. After her mother's death, she lost both the bookstore and Josh, who told her she had gained weight and he no longer found her attractive. Winnie confesses the true reason she came to Banff: Her mother's estranged brother, Uncle RJ, possesses a childhood bowling trophy that was rightfully her mother's, and Winnie intends to steal it back.

On the Banff Gondola, Winnie panics about how fast her feelings are growing, but Pacey tells her he has never felt this kind of connection and asks her to stay longer. She agrees. Back at the cabin, she presents thoughtful gifts to each teammate. In the hot tub, Winnie's body insecurity surfaces because of Josh's cruel words, and Pacey addresses it directly, proving his attraction is genuine. At bedtime, when Pacey walks away without kissing her, Winnie calls him back and initiates their first kiss.

The following morning, Pacey experiences a severe migraine, a recurring condition from a slap shot to the head earlier in the season that caused a severe concussion. He has downplayed the migraines' severity. The similarity to her mother's symptoms terrifies Winnie, but she cares for him and he recovers faster than ever. Holmes delivers an ultimatum: Either Pacey sees the team doctor in Vancouver, or Holmes tells their coach. Meanwhile, Josh begins texting Winnie, asking to see her. She responds tentatively but does not tell Pacey.

When Pacey announces he must fly to Vancouver, Winnie says she plans to leave Banff too. He pleads with her not to give up on them. Winnie admits she is not ready to say goodbye and asks him to take things slowly. That night, they have sex for the first time, and Winnie is overwhelmed by how different intimacy is with someone who prioritizes her pleasure.

Pacey cancels his flight to accompany Winnie to Uncle RJ's house. She stalls her uncle, grabs the trophy off the mantle, and sprints out while Pacey drives the getaway car. Over pizza, she reveals she plans to plant her mother's ashes as a memorial tree with the trophy buried alongside. Pacey asks to be there.

At Pacey's Vancouver apartment, he sees the team doctor, who warns that if scans reveal a brain bleed or nerve damage, the past season was likely his last. While Pacey is away, Winnie runs into Josh at a grocery store. Josh confesses he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and pushed Winnie away to spare her from dealing with his illness on top of her mother's. He admits his cruel words were deliberate. Pacey, returning from a flower shop, sees Josh hugging Winnie across the parking lot.

Back at the apartment, Pacey interrogates Winnie. When she does not mention Josh, he reveals he saw them together. Winnie admits Josh was behind her mysterious texts. Pacey then reveals Josh is his half-brother, a fact he has hidden since the cabin. Winnie is blindsided and accuses him of using her as a pawn. She packs her bag, telling him the feelings she has for him are stronger than anything she felt for Josh, which means he could break her irreparably. His deception has already started that process. She tells him he broke her first and leaves.

Pacey spirals until all four teammates arrive. Doc calls with results: All scans are negative, but Pacey's atlas vertebra and cervical spine are severely misaligned, causing his migraines. Treatment should make him ready for the upcoming season. Pacey calls Josh, and they cautiously agree to try building a relationship. Hornsby outlines a plan to win Winnie back through patient daily contact. Holmes drafts a careful apology text, and the group sends it together.

In Seattle, Winnie tells her friends everything. Max argues Pacey hid Josh's identity because Winnie would never have given him a chance otherwise. Over the following weeks, Pacey rebuilds communication with incremental gestures: cider from Banff, her favorite tacos, daily texts that grow warmer. Winnie lands a remote consulting job designing children's reading environments for schools and bookstores. Texts evolve into nightly FaceTime dinners. Pacey's therapy progresses and his migraines stop. When Josh contacts Winnie again, she shuts him down, telling him she is in love with someone else.

Pacey appears at Winnie's door in Seattle holding purple flowers. Winnie tells him she is in love with him. He tells her he loves her and wants to be the man she deserves. She tells him he already is.

In the epilogue, Pacey, Winnie, Max, and Katherine hike through Discovery Park in Seattle to plant a tree sapling containing Winnie's mother's ashes. Winnie places the stolen bowling trophy on her mother's favorite rock. Together, she and Pacey plant the tree. Winnie reflects that her mother, a lifelong romantic who believed in love at first sight, orchestrated the entire adventure from above, directing Winnie down a wrong turn in a thunderstorm and into the arms of the man she was meant to find.