Splintered Line by Brooke Wilder

He owns the ice.
I’m trying to break into a world that doesn’t want me.
We’re both running out of leverage.

Gio Rossi is a winger built on precision—sharp skates, sharper instincts, and a reputation that’s starting to crack. When rumors threaten to turn him into a liability, he needs credibility. Distance. Someone clean enough to shut it all down.

Zoë Barnes has talent, vision, and ambition—but fashion doesn’t reward merit. It rewards access. And every closed door reminds her she doesn’t have the right name, the right connections, or the luxury of waiting her turn.

So we make a deal.

A fake relationship.
Public. Strategic. Mutually beneficial.
He needs my reputation to quiet the noise.
I need his name to get me into rooms I’ve never been allowed inside.

We set rules. We keep our hands visible. We pretend this is just optics.
But Gio doesn’t do anything halfway.
And I don’t know how to play pretend without feeling it in my bones.

He watches me like he’s studying my weaknesses.
I push back like I’m not already aware of his.

Every appearance tightens the thread between us.
Every touch meant for show lingers a second too long.
This isn’t soft. It isn’t safe.
It’s pressure and restraint and heat coiled under control.

And when the lie starts to feel real, we’ll have to decide—was this just a strategy…or the moment everything splintered.