Ryan Talonovich is the star of his college hockey team, until an accident during practice leaves him confined to a wheelchair. The doctors say he'll walk again but a new season is already underway and he's been replaced on the team, which leaves him feeling alone and betrayed. What's the use of fighting to get back on the ice now?<br><br>Then he meets Dante Espinosa, a short track skater on the city's speed skating club. Though he has to work overtime to afford his sport, Dante is hell on ice, and dreams of making the cut on the U.S. Olympic Speedskating Team.<br><br>Their love of the ice brings them together, but too many obstacles stand in their way: Ryan's struggle with therapy. The memory of Dante's first boyfriend. Lack of funding to the event, Dante's harassing boss, a skating friend in love with him, and Wil Dietrich, who will do anything to win.

Power Play

Ryan’s all too aware of that hand hovering above his leg—he can almost feel it through the worn jeans he wears. “Fine,” he whispers as he watches Dante’s fingers trace down one of the cool metal bars of his brace. There are two such bars, one on either side of his leg, thick, ugly things that he hates. They’re attached to his knee and ankle with hard rubber grips to keep his leg immobile—when Ashlin’s skate cut into him, it sliced through his muscle easily, tore the ligaments in both legs, and shattered the bone of his right calf into a million tiny pieces. He’s had three surgeries to reconstruct the lower part of his leg and the doctors assure him that as it heals, there are cosmetic procedures they can do to smooth out the bumpy ridges, cover over the red, angry skin. He’s not so sure, though—he’s seen the naked flesh and it hurts his heart just to look at it. He doesn’t think he’ll ever wear shorts again.


Chapter 18