High Sticking the Heart

No last names, no phone numbers, no job titles.... Ariella: In theory, it was the ideal way to keep me from getting attached. My life plans left no room for distractions—not if I was going to break out of my culture’s machismo and prove to my family that I could make it on my own. And the 6’4” Texan rocking boots and a cowboy hat? He was exactly the type of distraction I was avoiding. So when the hot Wrangler-wearing man strolled up to me at a bar with a desperate plea to pretend to be his date, the rules were necessary…and completely useless. How was I supposed to know my fake date was the star hockey player for the very team I was just hired as the strength and conditioning coach for? Dalton: Pro tip: If your goal is to stay single so you can focus on not repeating last season’s disaster, maybe don’t ask a dark-haired beauty with looks that could kill to pretend to be your date. Especially not when her laugh makes you feel alive for the first time in years. Because that charade may last longer than you’d anticipated…and trying to keep things fake? Feels like a damn high stick to the heart.