The Playmaker's Guide to Falling

Two sports. One glass wall. And a playbook that's about to go up in flames.

Fern Minogue hates basketball. To her, the court is a reckless machine that chews up elite athletes and spits them out-a lesson her older brother learned the hard way. Now a nineteen-year-old figure skater at Crestview University, Fern has her eyes on one goal: landing her triple axel and securing a spot at Regionals. Oh, and maybe catching the eye of Logan Hernandez, the team's tatted, eyebrow-pierced "bad boy" who secretly has a heart of gold.

Too bad she has to share the Crestview Athletic Pavilion with Paxton Swann.
Paxton is the university's reigning golden boy, a six-foot-five-point guard with a mop of golden-blonde curls, hazel-brown eyes, and an ego as chiselled as his abs. He thinks figure skating is a glorified pageant; she thinks he's an arrogant distraction. Separated only by a massive, floor-to-ceiling glass wall, their practices are a daily war of petty standoffs and blasted music.

But when the arena scheduling gets tight, Paxton offers Fern a deal she can't refuse. He needs prime morning court time, and she needs to get Logan's attention. Paxton will act as her personal wingman, drawing up the perfect "play" to make Logan jealous by pretending to date Fern themselves.

The strategy is flawless. The fake dating is completely believable.

The only problem? Every time Paxton adjusts her jacket, trades sharp banter in the corner of a crowded athlete party, or watches her skate under the arena lights, the lines begin to blur. Suddenly, Fern is looking less at the guy she thought she wanted, and more at the cocky captain who was never supposed to be part of the game.
Because when the ice meets the hardwood, someone is bound to crash.

Inspired by Elle Kennedy 'The Deal'