Blackmailed Into Dating My Ex’s Hockey Rival Novels & Stories

He runs a hand through it, shakes it out, blades carving lazy arcs into the ice like he’s filming a sports commercial. And, of course, the crowd explodes. I spit the sausage roll back into its wrapper. “You have got to be kidding me,” I mutter. He looks up toward the bleachers. Our eyes meet. Just for a second. Then he winks. I slap my palm over my face. “Unbelievable. He’s such a player. How can someone be this shameless?” This was his idea…the fake dating, the whole ridiculous plan to make Danny jealous. And yet here he is, acting like the most single man alive on skates. Why doesn’t he just grab the rink mic and announce that our relationship is fake while he’s at it?

Liam: So I stared straight into his face. "Every time I had hockey practice, you locked me in a room and beat the devil out of me. For years, you kept repeating it was only sports, nothing more. You told me countless times I would never amount to anything. And for a while, I did listen. But my love for hockey was so great that it pulled me back to the ice every time.” Frank’s face held no remorse for his actions; rather, the corner of his lips carried a smirk—one hard to miss, but I’d spent years reading his expressions, so I knew something when I saw one.

“Declan..” “Not now, Soraya,” he cut me off, voice firm but not unkind. “We’ve got bigger problems.” Before I could push him, both our phones started ringing at the same time. It was the athletic director. And she sounded furious. “Turn on Campus News right now,” she snapped. We rushed to the TV. The morning broadcast was already running the headline: “EXCLUSIVE: Northpoint’s Rink Marriage Exposed as Sponsor-Driven Sham” A blurred but recognizable screenshot of our contract was plastered on screen. Below it, the blackmailer had posted publicly.

Shantel came rushing down the steps like a madwoman, her expensive heels clicking loudly against the marble. "Get your filthy hands off my man!" Shantel screamed, throwing herself into the hallway and physically grabbing my shoulder, ripping me away from Raxon. Her fingernails dug right through my shirt, scratching my skin. "You ungrateful little psycho! I knew you were trying to ruin us!" "Get off me, Shantel!" I yelled, shoving her hands away from my body with all the strength I had. "You're blackmailing him!" Shantel roared, her face turning an ugly shade of red as she pointed a shaking finger at me. "I heard you! You're using that stupid hockey contract to force him to say things! You're

The silence was so loud I had to make sure the call hadn't dropped. "Antonia?" "I'm here," she said. "I'm just... processing." "Take your time. I've been processing since the lift." "Carmen." Her voice was very careful now. "Are you telling me that you went to that nightclub to seduce a fashion executive, accidentally slept with a footballer who happens to be your ex-boyfriend's biggest rival, and you're just now finding out?" "Yes." "And the plan? Mirabel's plan?" "Gone. Dead. The plan is finished."

The hockey world was small and memories were long and it took less than an hour for someone to connect the dots publicly. My phone buzzed, it was Patricia. "Elena." Her voice was strained. "I just saw the news. Please tell me you know what you are doing." "I know what I am doing," I said. "Alexander St. James." She paused. "Damien's biggest rival." "I know who he is, Patricia." "This is going to provoke Damien badly." "I know that too." "Elena, you have to be careful—" "It is going to provoke him into signing the divorce papers faster," I said quietly. "That is the whole point."

Honestly, I’m only checking it because Coach has this psychotic habit of messaging the team at random hours like military deployment is about to begin. But the second my screen lights up, I frown. “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.” Aurora frowns immediately from the bed. “What?” I don’t answer. Because what the actual fuck am I looking at? There’s a notification from Tyler. Then Duke. Then six different hockey group chats exploding at once. And right at the top? A sports gossip page. NORTHFORD TEA. The caption reads: CAPTAIN JAYDEN VALE STEALS TEAMMATE’S GIRLFRIEND AT HOCKEY HOUSE PARTY?!

I would sneak into their medical school to make sure that Tyler wasn't cheating on me. Because trust was one thing. But after everything I had already been through, pretending I wasn't scared of losing him was another. This was what I got from dating a popular hockey player who always got into scandals that affected his reputation. And apparently, from now on, I was going to have to survive the scandals too.

Then words, low and ugly, about the girlfriend the papers had invented for me. A month earlier, I'd have dropped my gloves. *You play like you have to settle every score yourself,* Evan had told me at practice. *We have a team, Cap.* I skated away. On the next shift, I forechecked hard and stole the puck off the boards. I fed Evan, he found our left winger at the far post, and the red light went on. The bench exploded. Someone grabbed my helmet and rattled it. The arena shook around us.

"I want to remove the word 'blackmailed' from your marriage," Dr. Viraj said. "You can't remove it because I blackmailed her. I told her I would share the CCTV Footage on her wedding day if she failed to call the wedding off and I was going to do it. She knew I would do it and called the wedding off."