The Hockey Prince's Secret Ice Queen

e P

e kiss

rmur-warm, quiet, and laced with

ped my head up

ilhouetted against the bright morning glare, casting a long shadow across the cobblestones. B

was notoriously indifferent, nev

blocked the brick path. His teammates were whistling, sh

through the crowd, and within seconds, a dozen students reached into their pockets out of

he movement, his jaw tighteni

own into my space, his broad shoulders shifted in a subtle, fluid maneuver-throwing up an impe

close. His deep baritone brushed against my ea

r straight down my spine. "The guys backed me into a locker-room dare... but I'm not here to use you as a joke. We can fa

that my brain f

He's actually t

wallowed my frame whole, soft, thin jeans worn at the knees, bare-faced dark circles carved beneath my eyes from forty-eight hours of non-stop coding, my dark hair

-night disaster. How had Briar's go

scent of winter mint and cedar wrapping around my senses. Having those pale blue eyes star

cupped around his mouth as the rest of the players lost their mi

rks and chest-thumping

g toward the dining hall froze in

face. "She looks like she just crawled out of a dumpster. There's no way Julian's actu

ater, snapping me out of my daze and insta

the at

entertainment again. I buried my name, switched majors, and hid behind oversized fleece and thick glasses just to live an invisible life. If I ended u

verge of falling apart. I did

my heavy binders, my k

g a step back to put distance between us, my voice tight with ad

own, attempting

age Kelle

e brought my boots

him, caught comp

sured and even, carrying an intellectual sharpness that seemed impossible beneath a varsity jack

t was my academic advisor-and the guardian of the fi

to a near-whisper against the whistle of the w

. "You... read

blue eyes deadly sharp. "And Uncle Des mentioned that if you don't deliver a working version by this Friday, th

back of my nec

capstone failed, and I would be forced to stay another semester without my deg

dline for two days straight, and Julian

s about Beaumont's nephew-the CS prodigy everyone in the de

able, his gaze locking onto mine with an unshakeable, quiet certainty. "Help me get