when the ice melts || a hockey romance

Maeve Bennett had spent four years convincing herself that love was supposed to feel like waiting. Waiting for texts that never came. Waiting for promises that were always broken. Waiting for Ethan Parker to become the man she once imagined he'd be. As a junior majoring in Elementary Education at Northwood University, Maeve had mastered the art of pretending. Pretending her relationship wasn't falling apart. Pretending the cheating rumors didn't bother her. Pretending she wasn't exhausted from loving someone who had stopped choosing her a long time ago. To everyone else, Maeve's life looked perfect. But beneath her warm smile and carefully crafted excuses was a girl standing at the edge of a life she no longer wanted, terrified to finally let go.

Luca Moretti didn't believe in love. Not the forever kind, anyway. The star forward of Northwood's hockey team lived by one rule: no commitments. Hookups were easy. Relationships weren't. After witnessing his father's death during a professional soccer match as a child and growing up with a mother who chose alcohol and drugs over motherhood, Luca learned early that people always leave. Now twenty-one, he carries his grief behind a charming grin and a reputation that keeps everyone at arm's length. Hockey was never supposed to be his future-it was simply the closest thing to soccer that could earn him a scholarship and an escape. But while the world sees confidence and arrogance, Luca is secretly haunted by the past and convinced that he's impossible to love.