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

As Ryan gasps for breath, Dante strokes his boyfriend’s arms, long, slow motions that relax the tense body beneath him. When he reaches Ryan’s hands, he takes them in his and stretches his arms over his head, laying down above him on the bed. Eye to eye, he grins at Ryan and then kisses him between his eyebrows. “I stopped,” he whispers.


“I didn’t mean—” Ryan starts, and then Dante’s mouth covers his upper lip, kissing the faint peach fuzz that struggles to grow there. “Dante,” he sighs, giving into the kiss. When Dante pulls back slightly, Ryan leans up after him, hungry for more. “Don’t stop.”


With a laugh, Dante reminds him, “You just said—”


Chapter 43