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.

Eli's question had hung in the library air like a challenge Silver couldn't answer. What is it, Silver? She'd stared at him for several frozen seconds, acutely aware of Americus and Riley pretending not to watch their exchange with fascinated interest. Then she'd mumbled something incoherent about being tired and needing to finish an essay, gathering her things with shaking hands and escaping before he could press for actual response.


Now she sat cross-legged on her narrow dorm bed, a cup of instant ramen going cold on her nightstand while the Gothic tower room settled into evening quiet. The letter from Eli lay open on her blanket again, its words already burned into her memory but somehow still shifting meaning every time she forced herself to reread them.


Chapter 139 - Riley's Support