Iced Out Hearts — Six Months With The Hockey Captain
Julio Hayes has six months to save his hockey career.
After a viral nightclub fight threatens his NHL draft prospects, his management team gives him one way to repair his reputation: a respectable girlfriend, a spotless public image, and absolutely no more scandals.
Sierra Rosso is the last woman he should choose.
A ruthless criminal law student with no patience for athletes, Sierra couldn't care less about Julio's fame—or his charm. But when she realizes dating him gives her access to the powerful family circles surrounding Marcus Stirling, the man she's secretly investigating, she agrees to a six-month fake relationship.
The rules are simple:
Pretend in public.
Keep your hands to yourself.
Don't fall in love.
But the closer Sierra gets to Stirling, the more dangerous her investigation becomes. And the closer she gets to Julio, the harder it becomes to remember that their relationship is supposed to be fake.
Because someone is watching Sierra, someone inside her own investigation is feeding her secrets to the enemy.
And Julio is hiding something too.
When their carefully constructed arrangement begins unraveling, Sierra discovers that the corruption she's been chasing is far more personal than she ever imagined—and the man she thought she could trust may be connected to it all.
Their fake relationship was supposed to save Julio's career.
Instead, it might cost them everything.
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Chapter: MILLION VIEWSJulio’s POV:“It was tactical. Purely tactical."The mirror doesn’t argue. It just reflects a guy with bedhair and a toothbrush hanging out of his mouth, who has watched a one-minute clip of himself kissing his fake girlfriend a number of times I’m choosing not to disclose, even to myself.“It was a strategic, defensive maneuver in a high-pressure environment.” I spit, rinse, and try again with more conviction, because the first take sounded like I was being held hostage. “She was in danger, I took action, end of story.”My phone buzzes against the marble for roughly the nine-hundredth time since I woke up. The lock screen says 14.2 million views and 3,811 unread messages, which has to be some kind of goddamn medical condition.“Tactical,” I tell the mirror again, and the guy in it clearly isn’t buying a word.The worst part is that it isn’t even the kiss I keep replaying. I could handle the kiss, I could stuff the kiss in a locker and sit on it. It’s the sentence she said at the coat
Last Updated: 2026-11-03
Chapter: Exhibit ASierra’s POV:“Of course,” the scarred man says, with a polite little nod. “Congratulations to you both.”And then drifts back into the crowd.Julio’s arm is still around my waist. My mouth is still tingling like I’ve been licking a nine-volt battery. And “girlfriend” is bouncing around inside my skull like a pinball.“Bathroom,” I say.“Sierra...”“Bathroom, Hayes. Right now, before I stab you with a cocktail skewer in front of three photographers.”“Is that a clause seven situation or a regular situation?”I don’t answer. I just walk, fast and smooth, with my chin up like my knees are about to start shaking.The marble ladies’ room is empty, thank God, so I lock myself in the farthest stall and sit on the closed lid in this ridiculous gown. The first thing I do is press the back of my hand against my mouth.It’s still warm. WHY is it still warm?Okay. Okay, okay, okay.Breathe, Rosso. Think like a lawyer. A lawyer would say it was a tactical kiss executed under duress to divert a h
Last Updated: 2026-11-03
Chapter: BLINDSIDEJulio’s POV"Don't be bloody ridiculous, Julio," Sierra says sharply in answer to my prying question, acting like nothing is wrong but Sierra’s hand digs into my bicep so hard I can feel her nails biting straight through the custom wool of my tuxedo jacket.I’ve spent the last ten years of my life reading body language on the ice. I know the exact, micro-second shift in a defenseman’s posture before he tries to pin me against the glass. I know what fear looks like, and I know what a threat looks like.Now I don't think that man was a paramore.It's like she’s looking at a predator."Sierra?" My hand, resting on the back of her emerald silk dress, tightens against the small of her back. "I'm asking again. Who is that?""And I'm telling you again, Hayes. No one," she breathes, her voice thin and completely devoid of its usual razor-sharp edge. Her fingers are still white-knuckling my jacket. "The flashes...they're um...it’s just a panic attack."It’s a terrible lie. Sierra Rosso doesn'
Last Updated: 2026-10-01
Chapter: PLAYING THE PARTSierra's POVThe dress Vance's team sends my way may very well costs more than my semester's tuition.Midnight-blue silk. A slit up the left thigh that should be illegal. A back so low I'm kind of concerned it's some sort of structural hazard.I stare at myself in the water-spotted mirror of my cramped bathroom. I don't look like a third-year law student running on caffeine and spite. I look like exactly what I'm being paid to be tonight: the polished, devoted girlfriend of a future NHL draft pick.A loud knock rattles my door.I grab my clutch, breathe, and open it.Julio Hayes fills my doorway in a black tuxedo that should be a crime on those shoulders. Tie slightly loose. Hair styled in that deliberate, messy way that probably took a professional twenty minutes. He's scrolling his phone. Then he looks up, and the smirk dies.His gaze drops. The dress. The slit. The heels. Slowly, torturously, back up.A muscle jumps in his jaw."It's a charity dinner, Rosso," he says, his voice a s
Last Updated: 2026-09-30
Chapter: HOSTILE WITNESSJulio's POVI'm well aware that I'm ten minutes late, and I don't give a damn.The entirety of this hassle from the scandal is all so irksome. There's no bloody reason why one punch I gave to an inconsequential idiot who deserved it should be putting me in the mess I'm in.It's crazy. Even more crazy how the media blows things out of proportion, scrutinizing every one of my past and present actions—The Daily Post actually called me a “violent, careless playboy” this morning.None of those fuckers know me. And fuck those comments. The so-called fans are singing a different tune now, when just a week ago they were thirsting over me and singing my praises after I won yet another game, just as I've been doing my whole damn life.And now I'm expected to be in a stupid fake relationship with some girl who will no doubt piss me the fuck off even more.This shit had better work. I cannot lose all I've worked for for years because the media decided to believe a bully's sob story of how I punch
Last Updated: 2026-09-30
Chapter: THE DEAD ENDSierra's POV Redacted.Redacted.Denied due to proprietary exemption.I stare at thirty-two pages of black bars until the words blur. Cold coffee. Three law treatises. One laptop, glowing like it's gonna swallow me whole. Maybe I'd even prefer such a fate if it granted me reprieve for all this or even better an answer to this jigsaw. A miracle, even that can help me out here!It's been three months of dead ends, sleepless nights and frustrations. Three months ago, a building collapsed downtown and took my mentor's career with it. The man responsible, Marcus Stirling, walked out of it without a scratch. Shell companies. Offshore accounts. Lawyers who can bury evidence faster than an inspector can sign a permit.Rich white men walking away unscathed from their evils. Tale as old as fucking time.But I know the real ledger exists. The one that proves he cut safety materials to pad his profits. I can feel it.I just can't reach it.I type in the registration number for Stirling Heritage
Last Updated: 2026-09-30
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