Silver Preston was supposed to be America’s next figure skating sweetheart—until a brutal injury shattered her Olympic dreams and left her stranded at Yale, miles away from the ice that defined her. All she wants is to stay invisible, to escape the suffocating grip of her former coach-mother, and to outrun the whispers that she’s finished.

But Yale hockey isn’t quiet, and neither is Eli Hayes—the team’s captain, campus golden boy, and infuriatingly unreadable. To Silver, he’s arrogant, cold, and everything she swore she’d avoid. To Eli, she’s reckless, stubborn, and a distraction he can’t afford. Their worlds were never meant to collide—except the rink has a way of pulling broken people back onto the ice.

When gossip turns cruel and secrets from the past threaten to destroy her for good, Silver is forced to decide whether she’ll keep running or fight for the life—and the love—she thought she lost. And as Eli battles his own demons under the unforgiving glare of NHL scouts, their fragile connection becomes the one thing that could save them both…or break them completely.

Full of sharp banter, late-night study sessions, stolen glances at the rink, and the electric push-pull of enemies who might be more, this is a story of ambition, redemption, and the thin line between pride and passion.

Silver had barely slept since her evening at the bar with Carroway, his carefully planted words circulating through her mind like a virus she couldn't purge from her system. Every time she'd closed her eyes, she'd heard his voice dropping to that conspiratorial whisper: He ruined someone's career. The accusation had burrowed deep into her consciousness, mixing with her own complicated feelings about Eli until she couldn't distinguish between legitimate concern and manipulative suggestion.


Chapter 82 - Dorm Gossip