The Ice Bet

Harper Lane has no time for hockey players.She has a scholarship to win, bills to pay, and a carefully organized life that leaves zero room for cocky campus celebrities with wet hair, dangerous smiles, and reputations built on breaking hearts.Then Chase Maddox, Ridgeview University's golden-boy hockey captain, walks into her tutoring center needing help to stay eligible and makes the mistake of letting his teammates bet he can get Harper to go out with him.Harper hears every word.So she changes the terms.One fake date. One public appearance. Five hundred dollars donated to the Women in STEM scholarship fundraiser. No feelings. No touching. Absolutely no kissing.Simple.Until Chase turns out to be more than a charming hockey cliché. He listens. He shows up. He respects every rule Harper sets, even when she starts wanting to break them herself.But Harper's past isn't finished with her. When her ex resurfaces with threats, old wounds, and a plan to make her feel small again, Chase has to prove he's not just another guy who likes the chase.And Harper has to decide whether the boy who started as a bet might be the one worth betting her heart on.Sharp banter, college hockey heat, fake dating, emotional healing, found family, protective-but-consent-forward romance, and a hockey captain who falls first and hard.