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

Dante catches him before he can fall. “Watch it,” he says, helping Ryan stand. “Let me get your chair—”


“Just hold me,” Ryan tells him. Glancing over his shoulder, he sees the bed a few feet away—he can make it. “It’s not that far.”


Together they manage to cross the room, Ryan hobbling and Dante holding him upright. When they reach the bed, Ryan sinks to the mattress with a grateful sigh, then lies back, stretching out on top of the cool comforter. He stares up at the ceiling and blinks away sudden tears. I walked,he thinks, turning his head so he can see the couch. It looks so far away. From there to here, I walked.If not for the pain subsiding in his legs and the memory of Dante’s hands on his waist, he wouldn’t believe it.


Chapter 122