Afterache

The scandal hit before I could even put my phone down.
One headline. One lie. One campus ready to believe I was the bitter ex who tried to ruin Hartwell State’s golden hockey star because he broke my heart.

They did not see the injury report in my hands. They did not see the shoulder he kept lying about. They did not see the pressure behind the locker room doors, the scouts in the stands, or the father who would rather protect a dream than protect his own son’s body.

They only saw Ronan Voss.

The boy I loved.

The player who left me with one cruel sentence I never forgot.

Now he is back in my treatment room, injured, watched by scouts, and forced under my care. I should be professional. I should be untouchable. I should remember that men with beautiful hands, broken shoulders, and unfinished apologies are dangerous.
But Ronan is not pretending anymore.

He remembers everything. The first kiss. The old voice note. The lie that ended us. The photo that made me look replaceable. The truth he let me carry alone.
And this time, private apologies are not enough.

If he wants me back, he will have to tell the truth where everyone can hear him.

For readers who love emotional second chance romance, college hockey pressure, forced proximity, public grovel, found family, slow burn tension, painful secrets, and a heroine who refuses to give up her career, dignity, or name for love.
Some love stories are not about who comes back first.

They are about who becomes brave enough to stay correctly.

Read the book before everyone starts talking about Ronan and Mara. Because once you step inside this rink, hear the crowd, feel the cold glass, and watch the truth hit harder than any body check, you will not want to leave.