Rinkmates: A steamy Hockey Romance (The Mates series Book 1)

Nina shuts the door, the sound louder than it should be.

“Careful there,” I say, sitting on my couch and googling Liora James.

There she was, standing in my living room like a forgotten relic from my past.

I never thought I’d see her again after she disappeared from the public eye years ago. It’s like she was erased from existence. She used to dominate the headlines as a US figure skating princess, poised to bring home all the medals. And just like that, she vanished in the middle of the Olympics.

“Of course, you messed it all up again. I should have come with Ethan,” she grunts. “But here I am trying to solve things alone. Great idea.”

“Look, I didn’t agree to any of this,” I say, halting in front of a familiar photograph that still sets my pulse racing. After all these years and women that made me forget my name at times, it’s still her that makes my stomach flip. There she is, sitting casually on a bench at the rink, a sly grin on her lips, almost daring me to unravel the mystery behind those blue eyes. Her hands are folded neatly between her thighs, that snug purple dress accentuating every curve just right. With her blonde locks and that angelic face, she’s always been a vision of temptation for me.

My father forced me to watch several sports championships, including the US figure skating nationals. He has a thing for sports bets, and I guess it was an attempt to get me onto it, too, but I was sixteen when I saw her. I didn’t care a bit about my father’s bets on her. I’m not exactly proud of it, but her face was the reason I started to beat the meat on a daily basis.

From that day on, I watched every championship she competed in. I even had a nickname ready for her. Lia. I was one crazy teenager.

And today, that girl almost moved in with me.

I could never tell Nina why I didn’t think this would work, but fuck—it wasn’t for lack of words. It was more about the fact that Liora was too tempting. I would be desperate to fuck her at some point, and besides my father, there’s only one other thing that could get me to run: the thought of binding myself to someone. To lose myself. It wouldn’t work. It never did, and especially not when she still looked the same, maybe even more captivating now. That ass in leggings. Shit.

Nina interjects before the silence can stretch into discomfort, “Riley, I’m afraid you don’t have much choice here. Your image needs serious rehab if you want to stay in the league and I thought Ethan made it clear that you have to cooperate. No matter what.”

“Your heroine ran away from me and now you’re blaming me for it?”

Nina gives me that you know what you did look, but I shrug it off. “If she can’t stomach a little remark, it’s not a good idea to move in with me anyway.”

“You mocked her job, Ri…”

“You know, just like I do, that a reality show isn’t a place for someone like her. She’s been a legend. I never saw someone as talented as her on the ice.”

Nina narrows her eyes. “Since when do you watch figure skating?”

I snort. “Everyone who reads the sports section knows her. I’m just saying she should try to compete again.”

“Well, it’s also common knowledge that it’s over at her age. She’s too old.”

“Please. She’s twenty-four.”

Nina dramatically flails her arms in front of her face. “Hold up! Why on earth do you know her age?”

I clear my throat, feeling a bit caught. “Just a casual google search. I mean, you wanted her to move in with me, I had to check on her.” She’s three years younger than me. I even know her birthday. It’s September 18.

Nina shoots me a suspicious glance.

“Anyway, it’s a moot point because she’s not keen on moving in with me.”

“Oh, she will be.”Content bel0ngs to Nôvel(D)r/a/ma.Org.

“What was your grand plan, anyway? Her moving in and playing bouncer while she takes me hostage in between games?”

Nina grins. “Yeah, pretty much. Ethan and I thought you two could fake a relationship. Just until the season wraps. It boosts your PR, and she gets a nice roof over her head and maybe some more calls to keep her in the show. Win-win.”

My heart pounds like a bass drum at a rock concert.

Liora James pretending to be my girlfriend? Nina must have gone mad.

“Absolutely not,” I protest, shaking my head vigorously. The mere thought sends a shiver down my spine, though not entirely unwelcome.

“We said all you have to do is play along!” Nina’s frustration is palpable, her expression teetering and close to of a full-blown tantrum. “Is this playing along?”

“You failed to mention I’d be sacrificing my personal space to live with someone.” To live with her. “How would you feel if I dropped a random stranger into your apartment?”

She snorts. “Please, you’re used to having random girls over every night.”

“Yeah, but they leave in the mornings.”

Rolling her eyes, she lets out an exasperated huff. “You may be right, maybe I should have warned you, but I was afraid you’d say no and vanish. Listen, you’ve got more rooms in this place than I have plushy socks. And trust me, that’s saying a lot. We’ll turn that empty room into something special just for her, make it so she’ll never want to leave! Plus, with your crazy schedules, you’ll hardly ever see each other. We’ll just have to take some staged photos every now and then to keep up appearances. The media will eat it up—they’ll think you’re a reformed playboy, all thanks to the power of love. And when the season is over, and her show is done, you both can separate again, and during season break, you’ll finally have time to work on your anger management at that posh facility down the street.”

Her monologue is over, but all I can do is stare at her. “Please tell me you’re kidding.”

“I’m not.”

“Fuck. This sounds like you’re going crazy, you do know that, right? Do you want me to call that posh facility for you now?” I stand up and pretend to check her temperature on her forehead. “Yup. High fever. I need to get you to the doctor, nugget.”

“Idiot,” she says and slams away my hand. “Just imagine it. You’ll be the bad boy turning over a new leaf with the help of Liora, who plays the sweet little fixer-upper for you. You’ll have the perfect excuse to skip those tedious parties, fewer brawls to deal with, and on top of it all, we can work on your anger management. It’s an amazing deal. And let’s not forget the publicity she’ll bring once she announces her comeback. You remember the media frenzy she stirred up five years ago?”

She grins, knowing that she’s right. “It’s almost too good to be true!” she adds.

“Because it isn’t true. Plus, there really was a huge uproar when she withdrew from the Olympics. The haters gave it their all,” I say, recalling all the comments I’d read, and maybe a few punches I threw for defending her honor whenever someone bad-mouthed her. Maybe.

“People are idiots. I’m sure she had a damn good reason,” Nina says, her tone resolute.

“And what if she’s secretly a serial killer? Or did something really messed up that got her booted from the Olympics?” I tease, knowing it’ll get under Nina’s skin.

Nina grunts in frustration. “I swear, one comment like this to her and I quit.”

“Ah, look at my little girl revealing her inner beast.”

She emits another grunt, and I half expect her to growl next. “It’s her or no one, Ri. I think she’s practically in dire straits financially.”

“Be honest with me, you think we’ll actually benefit from this?”

“It’ll definitely shift the focus away from your mess. And no one will question why you’re laying low until the end of the season, because you’re busy loving that wonderful girl, understand? We’ve got to give it a shot. You know it,” Nina insists.

I squeeze her in a hug. “This is an insane plan, nugget.”

“But aren’t those the best kind?”

“I hate publicity stunts…”

“You’ll love it,” she says with a wink.

There’s something in the way she said you’ll love it that pricks at my heart, a strange sensation I can’t quite pinpoint. Just the idea of Liora moving in here makes me…uneasy? No, it’s something else. But regardless, I don’t think Nina’s plan will actually happen. She was basically killing me with her glance. I can’t live with someone like him. She hates me.

“Helping each other out is what friends are for, right? Either way, you still owe me that pizza. Stress eating is the only way I can cope with your drama.”

“Ah, yes, the pizza debt,” I reply with mock seriousness. “But what about your friend out there? Should we save her a slice or two, because I don’t think she’ll show up here again.”

Nina shrugs, settling into the couch like she owns my damn place. “We wait. She needs a place to crash, and I have a feeling New York’s charm will work its magic for us. She’ll be back soon enough. Trust me. You may be a challenge, but your apartment is drop-dead gorgeous.”