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.

Silver woke to sunlight streaming through the window and an empty bed.


For a moment, she was disoriented. The events of last night felt dream-like. The breakdown. Eli staying. Falling asleep in his arms while he promised he wouldn't leave.


But the indent in the pillow beside her was real. The faint smell of his cologne still lingered on her sheets. And she was still wearing yesterday's clothes, wrinkled from sleeping in them.


She sat up, running a hand through her tangled hair. Her phone on the nightstand showed 9:47 AM. She'd slept through her alarm. Through her morning classes.


Daylight made everything sharper. The exhaustion of yesterday felt distant now, replaced by a clearer kind of awareness. The panic attack. The conversation with Eli about the draft. Asking him to stay.


Chapter 219 - Morning After