Home Ice Advantage

Iris may have home ice advantage, but Mark is the hometown hockey hero.

Mark Klingensmith just played the worst season of his career. He's got one season left on his contract with the Dallas Comets, and he's worried that the team won't re-sign him. Mark doesn't have time to think about his future, though, because he gets the bad news that his mother is still sick with cancer and is undergoing a second round of chemotherapy.

Iris Olson has been taking care of Mark's mother, Sandra, while Mark was off playing pro hockey. Sandra had always been like a mother to Iris, and Iris gladly takes on the duty of helping Sandra after her diagnosis.

When Mark returns to Grand Rapids, Minnesota, for the summer to help with his mother, Iris's life gets much more complicated. They have a history: she and Mark were once engaged. The two former flames team up to help Sandra through her treatment, and working together so closely reminds them of why they were so in love—but they are also reminded of why they couldn't make it work.

Can they reconcile their love for each other while pursuing their dream careers? Will they try to give their relationship a second chance? And will Sandra beat her cancer?

Previously released in the Seduced by the Game anthology, published October 28, 2015.