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

The roar of the crowd reverberates through the arena as Liora and I hit our opening pose, bathed in that hot spotlight. The music starts and we glide across the surface, each step perfectly synchronized with the song she chose. It’s “I Was Made for Loving You,” but not the version by Kiss. It’s a modern and raw version by Yungblud.

I lift Liora into a triple twist and her muscles tense up. This has never happened before. Something’s wrong. We manage the lift, but once I put her on the ice again, I notice a little wince. It’s barely there, but the flare in her eyes…she’s in pain.

I try to focus on our program, but my mind is racing.

Is she injured?

There’s simply no time to think as we move on to our next element.

We spin and leap across the ice. I just know there’s something wrong. Her movements are slightly off balance, her jumps not as high as they should be.

But she soldiers on, and the audience doesn’t seem to notice.Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.

Until the triple axel.

I watch in horror as she fails to complete the rotation and lands awkwardly on one foot. My heart clenches but the crowd erupts into applause anyway. They have no idea that Liora just performed injured.

But I know.

And it breaks my heart to see her pushing through the pain for the sake of it.

Tears glisten in her eyes, and I know I need to do something. She can’t start crying in front of the camera.

But at what cost?

Instead of the planned ending pose, I pull Liora close and we share a passionate kiss, playing our roles for the audience one last time. I use it to shield her face, making her cling to me as the crowd erupts in a standing ovation. Without a second thought, I scoop her up in my arms, cradling her against my chest while we listen to the judges. They are clapping away and giving us twenty-eight points. I don’t know how, but Liora manages to thank them with a last forced smile before she pleads me to skate back. My showman’s grin hides the fear gripping my heart. In truth, all I can focus on is the way her body trembles in my arms.

“You’re hurt,” I whisper, waving and skating to backstage.

She barely nods, burying her face in the crook of my neck, and I feel her tears wetting my skin. I spin with her, trying to maintain the illusion that this is all part of the performance until we’re out of the spotlight.

Backstage is chaos, but I block it all out, zeroing in on an empty table in the back.

I set Liora down gently, my hands lingering on her waist. “What is it, Lia? Talk to me. Please.”

She opens her mouth to reply but a scream of agony comes out instead, her face contorting in pain. Priya comes running over.

“Shit. What happened?” she pants.

“My feet,” Liora gasps out between sobs, gesturing frantically at her skates. “My feet!”

Priya and I work quickly to unlace the skates, easing them off as carefully as possible. My hands tremble so hard.

But nothing could have prepared me for the sight that greets us.

Liora’s socks, once pristine white, are now drenched with blood.

Razor-sharp shards of glass glitter in the harsh light, embedded deep in the soles of her feet. My stomach sinks. Shock courses through every part of me.

Fucking shit.

My mind reels, trying to process.

I’ve endured grueling practices and brutal hits on the ice, but this? This is unthinkable. Deliberate. Cruel. Rage builds in my chest as I imagine someone purposely placing those shards in Liora’s skates, knowing the damage they would do. Knowing the agony she would have to skate through. Who’d do something like this?

“I…I don’t understand,” I hear myself say, but Liora is in no state to explain. She’s lost to the pain, crying and crying, and fuck. I don’t think I can ever forget these heartbreaking sobs. My chest tightens, feeling like it might burst from sheer anger. Fortunately, Priya steps in, documenting the injuries with her phone while giving me directions to the medics. Her calm, methodical voice cuts through my numbness, grounding me just enough to act.

I cradle Liora against my chest again. She weeps into my neck and each sob is like a knife to my heart. Someone did this to her. Someone wanted to hurt my Lia.

“I swear to God,” I snarl to the room at large, my vision blurring red with fury as I scoop her up. “Whoever is responsible for this is going to pay. I will sue them for everything they have. I will destroy them.” The words feel good, powerful. A promise.

It’s what I need to get me going. To get Liora to the meds.

And once she lies on that medical bed, her hand clutching mine like a lifeline, vengeance is the furthest thing from my mind. All I can think of is the way she screams while they take out every fucking single shard.