Porter Prescott spent years fighting to be his own person.
His goal of playing for a hockey club not associated with the Prescott name finally comes true.
But just as he's leaving for the next chapter in his life, he meets her.

Asher Spence spent a lifetime learning she was worthless and unwanted.
She learned that sometimes the only person you can count on is yourself, and even then, you can fail.

What starts out as picture perfect can only come crumbling down.
No one listened to her pleas before,
Why should they listen to them now that she's found a place to finally call home?

But sometimes, it's the fight that takes you out of the game.

This DUET can be read as a standalone from the Prescott Family series. However, please note that this is book one in a duet. Book two, Holding, will be releasing within three weeks of Altercation's release, concluding the duet.
And then I saw her.

The feeling that overtook me was like a drowning man getting his first breath of air. A starving man getting a fucking full-course meal.

She didn’t see me yet, but she would in time. There were maybe eighty people between us and she was nearing.

Her hair was braided over her shoulder, wisps of hair falling out and framing her face. She was wearing leggings and those damned boots of hers, but I was surprised to see her shirt was the girly type, long with cuts up the sides, nearly to her waist, and lacy sleeves that played peek-a-boo with the colors adorning her arm. She didn’t carry a bag, just her phone in one hand.

I licked my bottom lip before biting it gently, trying to stop the smile from spreading on my face. Didn’t want to look like a complete moron.

Forty feet.

Her gaze was down at the floor, no doubt watching where she was walking. It didn’t surprise me she was careful like that.

Thirty feet.

Look up, Asher…Look up.

Twenty feet.

Her face lifted and, like a magnet, her eyes locked on mine instantly.

And the smile on her face?

God damn.

There was no sense stopping my full-ass smile now, not with the one she just shot my way.

If you would have told me, four months ago, I would be the most celibate man in the history of earth, all for the glimpses of smiles from that girl there with more secrets behind her eyes than I could ever hope to uncover, I probably would have laughed in your face.

Four months ago, I was gearing up for my rookie season in South Carolina.

Four months ago, I was a kid with a big name, going to a team that had nothing to do with said big name.

Four months ago, it was rumored I would be the new hot shot in town. Nico certainly didn’t fail to show me the gossip sites, seemingly run by a bunch of puck bunnies.

But four months ago, I walked into Starbucks for a goodbye coffee with my sister, and met the girl with secrets.

And four months ago, I became addicted without so much as a taste.

Now that I’ve had that taste? Shit, I couldn’t wait for more.

First comes love, then comes marriage...
But before the ceremony could start, Porter's world was knocked off it's axis.
He fought for years to break down Asher's walls, to see past her ghosts...but some ghosts may be too hard to fight.

Asher knew better than to believe she could keep her past in the past,
Keep the filth of who she was, from touching the Prescott family.
But as badly as she wants to keep Porter away
...she needs his family more.

What you see is what you get...
And even the most astute eyes can't see the biggest ghost.
Sometimes holding on is the only choice you have.