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

“I’m kinda beat,” Dante admits. “I was just calling to see what you wanted? I have to get to bed—”


“How’d the quarters go?” Bobby wants to know.


It’s a ploy to keep him on the phone, Dante knows this, but he likes to talk about skating and he’s still excited about the race, so he leans back against the counter, props the phone between his ear and shoulder, crosses his arms and says with a smile, “Kick ass, man. I’m going to State. I came in fast on the five hundred, blew everyone else away.”


“Do you always come fast?” Bobby asks, then he laughs at his lame attempt at a joke. Dante doesn’t think it’s very funny. When he clears his throat, uncomfortable, Bobby tells him, “I saw you on TV. Damn, boy! You in Lycra. You have a tight ass.”


“You called to tell me that?” Dante asks. He hates the angry quiver in his voice, and he balls his hands into fists to keep them from trembling. “Look, Bobby, I gotta go—”


Chapter 70