Knocking Boots

On the day of the wedding, my best friend, Elena Hartman, can't bear to part with me, so she threads my wedding shoes with a string and ties them snugly around her slim waist. The groomsmen turn the whole place upside down, and we end up late for the ceremony. She eventually cracks up and tugs at her billowy bridesmaid dress, revealing the outline of the shoes at her waist. "I dare you to come take them. As long as I'm here, she's not getting married!" My fiancé, Miles Lawson, shakes his head and chuckles. "You just love tormenting us, don't you?" Miles exchanges a look with the groomsmen, and they charge at her at the same time. She squeals as she falls back onto the bed, squirming under her layers of tulle. "Don't be so rough! I'm ticklish…" The groomsmen flush bright red. Miles' ears turn scarlet as he feels around her waist. She giggles even louder. "How are you going to undo it through all these layers? Use your head!" Then, she gasped. "That tickles!" Her theatrics make my temper flare. I spring to my feet, lift her skirt, and rip the wedding shoes right off her. "If you're that ticklish, smack yourself with a slipper. Drop the act, or I'll yank out the nerves that make you ticklish!"

My hand wraps around his wrist, and I try to break free of his hold. It’s no use, so I just dig my fingers into the tendons there and glare at him. “What the hell’s your problem?” His forearm presses against my sternum as he crowds me more, ice-blue mismatched eyes full of unchecked rage. “You’re my fucking problem. Hockey’s little golden boy, coming out here with your good game tonight, acting like you own the sport.” He’s trying to get under my skin, but it won’t work. Unlike him, I don’t let my temper control me, and I definitely don’t toss hands at the drop of a hat whenever I can’t rein in my feelings. Which is why he doesn’t get the reaction he was hoping for, and I snort out a laugh. “Seriously? It was a compliment. One I meant, so just take it and move the fuck on.” “Move the fuck on?”

I've been hopelessly in love with the same guy for years. The problem? He barely knows I exist. So when Ryder King—the arrogant, infuriatingly gorgeous captain of the hockey team—offers to help me win my crush, I make a deal with the last person I should ever trust. He'll teach me how to flirt, steal attention, and finally make the man I've always wanted notice me. In return, I'll help him pass the art class that's threatening his place on the hockey team. It should have been simple. Instead, late-night study sessions turn into stolen glances. Fake flirting becomes dangerously real. Every teasing smile, every lingering touch, every jealous look pulls me closer to the one man I was never supposed to fall for. Now my heart is caught between the boy I've loved for years... and the hockey captain who's slowly making me forget why I wanted anyone else. But when the lines between pretending and reality disappear, someone is bound to get hurt. And by the time I realize I've fallen for the wrong player, Ryder is already walking away... and I might be too late to make him stay.

Welcome to four couples where love flips into lies, truth gets cheated on, and betrayals leave bite marks. The ice is brutal, but the desire is worse. First, stepbrother and stepsister — captain and photographer — sparking in the family darkroom with taboo hate that turns dripping wet. Next, the debt-ridden enforcer and his ice-queen manager lose it in dominant, screaming desk s*x. Then fake-dating explodes for the cocky winger and journalist into vicious, car-rocking hate-fucks. Finally, the goalie and forbidden trainer surrender in hot, possessive rehab nights. Pleasure appeal ruins everything. With scandals, fights, and secret group chats, these couples chase orgasms while everything falls apart. Filthy, fast, and addictively steamy. Steamy enough to melt the ice, messy enough to break you. This story contains morally grey heroes, bdsm, MF romance, MM romance, FF romance and brings to life every steamy imagination you could have. Stay tuned~

One night, as I was making my way to the bathroom around 3 a.m., I saw my dormmate, Yvonne, squatting in front of our door. She was rearranging all our shoes so that their tips were pointed inward. I thought it was funny, so I rearranged them to have their tips pointed outward. The next day, I found that all of them had been positioned inward again. This kept happening for a week, and I continued to scramble things up, hiding the shoes, even, or tying the shoelaces together. But they always ended up being repositioned neatly inward. I started observing my dormmate and found her mumbling to the shoes while squatting at the door. I ranted about it online, only to have my first reply send chills down my spine. [Do you also get the weird feeling that something paranormal is happening around you? You have to move out before it’s too late!]

When I was 18, I was abducted and assaulted. Leonardo Ferrante stormed into the hideout with explosives strapped to his body and saved me. As a result, he lost a leg. After getting a prosthetic, he gently wiped away my tears and comforted me. "Don't be silly, Camilla Marino. It's just one leg. Why are you crying over this? I said I will protect you for a lifetime. I won't break my promise." After that, he even risked his life to take revenge for me. No one in the whole wide world dared to provoke me. I once thought I would stay happy like this forever... until his mistress, Vittoria Greco, hands me an invitation to their engagement banquet. "Do you really think he will marry an assaulted woman like you? Leonardo says you're rotten inside and out. Only I deserve to marry him. We're getting engaged next week. Make sure you come join us for the celebration." I stare at the fancy font on the invitation. Then I swing it backhand and slap her across the face 100 times until she bleeds. After that, I have my men call Leonardo. "I will make a bet with you. If you win, you can take your mistress away. But if you lose, I will claim her life!"