Offside

Bailey James gets dumped on her twenty-first birthday. That night she meets Chase Carter at a nightclub. He plays left wing for her college's biggest rival, and he has spent years building a reputation as a womanizer on and off the ice. She is drunk enough to throw up on his shoes. He cleans up the mess and walks her home anyway.

What starts as a rebound turns into something neither of them planned. When they fake a kiss to make her ex jealous, the attraction underneath the act stops being pretend. Chase is already fighting to keep his NHL prospects alive after a run of scandals and slipping grades. Getting tangled up with someone tied to the team he needs to beat is a distraction he cannot afford.

Bailey's brother disapproves as strongly as her friends do. Chase plays for the school they have all spent years being taught to hate. The book alternates between Bailey's and Chase's own points of view as the two work out whether something that started as spite can survive a season spent trying to beat each other's teams.

It is a college hockey romance built on an enemies-to-lovers rivalry. It runs heavy on banter and heat, and it keeps its sense of humor even as the stakes for Chase's future turn serious.