Almost There
/1/129726/coverbig.jpg?v=d952b45e9b05aae9f5803a8b2c8d4fc6)
The Hockey Prince's Secret Ice Queen
All I wanted was to find a computer genius to process the non-linear dynamic equations for my ecological model. Instead, I found myself cornered by Julian Andrews, the university's hockey prince, trading a public, staged kiss for his academic support. To finalize our "deal," I was dragged to the campus ice rink. The cheerleaders and puck bunnies immediately swarmed him, mocking my plain clothes and treating me like a pathetic joke. Brooke, the head cheerleader, even set up a figure skating competition with a date with Julian as the grand prize. She performed a basic spin, blew him a kiss, and smugly waited for me to fall flat on my face and humiliate myself. His hockey teammates laughed from the sidelines, watching me try to support Julian as he stumbled around the ice like a newborn giraffe. But as I held his warm hand to keep him from falling, I couldn't help but feel something was terribly wrong. Why was a top-tier athlete faking such awful balance? And why did his ice-blue eyes stare at me with such knowing anticipation, as if he already knew about the professional figure skating past I had spent years trying to bury? "Just let go and skate." He whispered, slowly releasing my hand. I took a deep breath, glided to the center of the rink, and landed a flawless double Axel. As the entire rink fell into a dead, shocked silence, I realized I had just exposed not only my own hidden past, but also the biggest secret of the campus god.
Chapter 1 No.1
Sage POV:
"Let me kiss you."
The request was a low, hurried murmur—warm, quiet, and laced with the faintest edge of mortification.
Stunned, I snapped my head up toward the sound.
Julian Andrews filled my vision. He easily towered a head over me, his lean, athletic frame silhouetted against the bright morning glare, casting a long shadow across the cobblestones. Briar University's star forward. Team captain. The athletic department's untouchable golden boy.
Campus rumor had it that Julian was notoriously indifferent, never sparing anyone a second glance.
Behind him, a solid wall of navy-and-gold varsity jackets blocked the brick path. His teammates were whistling, shoving each other, and effectively cutting off my only exit.
The sudden commotion immediately bottlenecked the morning foot traffic. Whispers rippled through the crowd, and within seconds, a dozen students reached into their pockets out of sheer muscle memory, black camera lenses catching the light as they aimed squarely at us.
Julian's sharp eyes tracked the movement, his jaw tightening into a hard, irritated line.
Before I could take a single defensive step back, he closed the distance between us. Leaning down into my space, his broad shoulders shifted in a subtle, fluid maneuver—throwing up an impenetrable physical wall that completely shielded my face from the intrusive glare of the cameras.
His sharp, striking face hovered breathtakingly close. His deep baritone brushed against my ear, lost to the autumn wind, meant for me alone:
"Sorry to drop this on you," he whispered, his pale blue eyes disarmingly earnest, holding a quiet heat that sent a tremor straight down my spine. "The guys backed me into a locker-room dare... but I'm not here to use you as a joke. We can fake it. Angle it so it looks real—whatever you're comfortable with. Just help me get them off my back, and I owe you one."
It was only then that my brain finally rebooted.
What on earth? He's actually trying to kiss me?
A sharp flare of pure absurdity hit me, and my gaze dropped to my reflection in the dark glass door of the adjacent building: an oversized, faded gray hoodie that swallowed my frame whole, soft, thin jeans worn at the knees, bare-faced dark circles carved beneath my eyes from forty-eight hours of non-stop coding, my dark hair hastily twisted into a cheap plastic claw clip, and a pair of oversized, thick black-rimmed glasses sitting heavy on the bridge of my nose, completely hiding my face.
I looked like a refugee from an all-night disaster. How had Briar's golden prince ended up in front of me?
When I looked back up, my breath trapped in my throat anyway. He was too close, his clean scent of winter mint and cedar wrapping around my senses. Having those pale blue eyes staring straight down at me made my chest tighten in a way I really didn't want to acknowledge.
"Clock's ticking, Cap!" Landon howled from the sidelines, hands cupped around his mouth as the rest of the players lost their minds laughing. "Plant one on her, or enjoy the five-AM bag skate!"
A raucous chorus of barks and chest-thumping went up from the team.
A few yards away, two girls heading toward the dining hall froze in their tracks, pointing their phones.
"Wait, who the hell is that?" one of them laughed loudly, zooming her camera in on my face. "She looks like she just crawled out of a dumpster. There's no way Julian's actually kissing her. Post it on Sidechat right now—this is going straight to number one."
The cruel words hit like a splash of ice water, snapping me out of my daze and instantly killing the stupid flutter in my chest.
I hated the attention.
Four years ago, after my family and my former training partner framed me and destroyed my competitive skating career, I swore I would never be public entertainment again. I buried my name, switched majors, and hid behind oversized fleece and thick glasses just to live an invisible life. If I ended up on the campus forums with Julian Andrews, the internet vultures would dox me before noon—and drag up the toxic scandal I had bled to walk away from.
My research was already on the verge of falling apart. I didn't have time for this circus.
I locked my grip around my heavy binders, my knuckles straining white.
"Find someone else for your dare, Andrews," I said coldly, taking a step back to put distance between us, my voice tight with adrenaline. "I'm not interested in being part of your game. Move."
I kept my head down, attempting to brush past him.
"You're Sage Kelley, right?"
The sound of my name brought my boots to an immediate halt.
I blinked up at him, caught completely off guard.
"Professor Beaumont's senior research student," Julian straightened up slightly, his cadence measured and even, carrying an intellectual sharpness that seemed impossible beneath a varsity jacket. "I saw your Havenwood Creek senior capstone proposal sitting on his desk over Sunday dinner."
My heart gave a hard, hollow thud. Professor Beaumont was my academic advisor—and the guardian of the final research endowment my late father had left behind.
Julian leaned in slightly, his voice dropping to a near-whisper against the whistle of the wind. "I spent an hour going over your codebase."
My lips parted. "You... read my proposal?"
"Your simulation keeps crashing because your core fluid algorithm strategy is flawed," Julian murmured, his pale blue eyes deadly sharp. "And Uncle Des mentioned that if you don't deliver a working version by this Friday, the department is pulling your grant—which means you don't clear your senior thesis, and you don't graduate in May."
The hair on the back of my neck stood on end.
Friday was the deadline. If the funding was pulled, the project died, my senior capstone failed, and I would be forced to stay another semester without my degree. Worse, my father's final ecological legacy would be reduced to scrap paper.
I had been panicking over that exact deadline for two days straight, and Julian had just laid it out like it was nothing.
Worse, I couldn't even brush him off. I had heard the rumors about Beaumont's nephew—the CS prodigy everyone in the department talked about. I just had never realized it was him.
"I know how to fix your algorithm," Julian stated plainly, laying his cards on the table, his gaze locking onto mine with an unshakeable, quiet certainty. "Help me get through this bet. In return, I'll rewrite your boundary calculations tonight. Deal?"
/1/127968/coverbig.jpg?v=1a9ef56507cc7586be1c8a67b68e851c)
Almost Strangers
I never expected my past to become my boss. Fifteen years ago, Morgan Aries was my best friend. Then an accident took his mother, my mother went to prison, and our families were torn apart. I never saw him again. Now, at 26, I finally have a stable job at Morgan Technologies. I should be celebratin
/0/17669/coverbig.jpg?v=7b8e66015999009856aa938e7afbaf1b)
Who Goes There?
Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so th
/0/78850/coverbig.jpg?v=24d43a73a1d252698af17c97b5f1a322)
ALMOST MINE, ALREADY HIS
Gregory William, a charming playboy billionaire, had never grasped the true meaning of life-until he met Camila. She isn't as beautiful or classy as the women revolving around him. But Camila has something none of them do: an effortless ability to make him laugh, even in his darkest moments. To Greg
/0/1716/coverbig.jpg?v=03cd5f63c09ffdd69dc03a45ffc76fec)
A Fool There Was
To begin a story of this kind at the beginning is hard; for when the beginning may have been, no man knows. Perhaps it was a hundred years ago - perhaps a thousand - perhaps ten thousand; and it may well be, yet longer ago, even, than that. Yet it can be told that John Schuyler came from a long line
/0/57155/coverbig.jpg?v=1fb809187deb02b14dd591b40626825f)
WHEN THERE IS LOVE
Roy D'silver had always been a rising star in the business world. With his natural charm and sharp wit, he quickly made a name for himself in Italy. But when an opportunity arose for his family to move to the United States, Roy knew it was a chance he couldn't pass up. As he settled in his new su
/0/2008/coverbig.jpg?v=40446ac2f09c047bfe6e9ce12e6f5f6b)
Here, There and Everywhere
So kindly a reception have the public accorded to The Days Before Yesterday that I have ventured into print yet again.
/0/99062/coverbig.jpg?v=8972c798a2911be862f59b59e3f1997d)
The things we almost were
"Kaelin, this feels wrong... we shouldn't be doing this," he muttered, his voice shaky, eyes darting away like he wasn't sure if he should even be here. "Relax... just trust me," I said quietly, trying to ease the tension in his shoulders. He sighed, still looking conflicted. "But I'm not gay," he
/0/83138/coverbig.jpg?v=40eea7c1b366dbddc45d9ef6a28dcc64)
The Malice of the Almost-In-Laws
A romantic getaway, a beautiful Texas hotel, my fiancé Kevin by my side—it should have been perfect. I thought our future was set. Then searing pain hit. A ruptured ovarian cyst, internal bleeding. I was dying. Kevin? He ignored my pleas, focused on a non-refundable hotel, dismissing my agony
/0/17863/coverbig.jpg?v=2b7f5afa7931e5a9be368187de37bd16)
There Will Be Walrus First Volume V
From Cattimothy House comes the apex of Military Science Fiction anthologies. Edited by the outspoken and fearless Timothy the Talking Cat, one of America's foremost political philosophers and one of the aspiring leaders of the future, There Will Be Walrus contains stories of adventure and excitemen
/1/102297/coverbig.jpg?v=44d29525e0fea1f93432ef922c92f05e)
The Woman He Almost Killed Lives
I spent three years as the perfect girlfriend to Silicon Valley's "Ice King," August Armstrong, only to overhear him call our entire relationship a "training exercise" to win back my estranged stepsister, Caroline. He used me, then cast me aside, framing me for attacking Caroline at their engagemen
/0/99655/coverbig.jpg?v=4bfd563373f3d23740276c2744a96e6b)
The Toxic Love That Almost Destroyed Me
For five years, I was Broadway's golden girl, and my powerful CEO boyfriend, Brennan, was my anchor. Our love felt invincible, a modern fairytale written across city marquees. Then he met Aimee, a struggling musician he claimed saved his life in a car crash. He gave her the vintage guitar he'd pro
/0/14666/coverbig.jpg?v=0d715b7f5180d1e038088a0487534c3c)
Over There with the Canadians at Vimy Ridge
Over There with the Canadians at Vimy Ridge by George H. Ralphson
/1/106927/coverbig.jpg?v=de13db828942ff2147de846f6aad7087)
Forever Yours, Almost. Whitmere Family Legacy Book 1
A Whitmere Family Romance Ten years ago, Sloane Hart ran from the only man she ever loved. Not because she stopped loving him- but because loving Rhett Whitmere meant risking everything. Now she's back in Whitmere County, standing inside the luxury hotel he built from heartbreak, legacy, and a lo
/0/75007/coverbig.jpg?v=680a2858f9b997aeea61f7f8f7ad978a)
No love,Just hockey(...until there is love)
Welcome to Fairview - where the girls hit hard on and off the ice. Ivy Ransom plays to win. Rey Navarro plays with fire. Forced on the same team, their rivalry turns into something hotter - and way more complicated. But Fairview isn't just about hockey. It's fame, secrets, stolen kisses, and girls
/0/18564/coverbig.jpg?v=baf12d2c650d26f213777b9414291ab9)
Sink In Your Adoration
Never in her dreams had Rita expected that her life would change so drastically after one dramatic incident--her blind date with Aaron. She had slept with the man the previous night and had even tried to pay him off with one hundred for their one-night stand. She was caught off-guard when they go
/0/77579/coverbig.jpg?v=fe51793a7bbf495e04a7b797509ee118)
The Rejected Omega: There Were Times I Wished You Were Dead
"Take the money and disappear." I froze, my breath catching in my throat. "What...?" "You heard me." His forest-green eyes, once warm and captivating, were icy and unyielding now, cutting through me like shards of glass. "Take the money and get the fuck out of my life. I don't want you, Amber." *
/0/18722/coverbig.jpg?v=3b4c1e8620034e15e7cb44d9d3544731)
Lose In CEO's Love Tricks
For many years now, Carolyn had been having the same wild dream of intense, passionate moments with a strange man. Everything about the dreams was as vivid as real life, though she could never recall the stranger’s face. To be clear, she had no memory whatsoever of that one day seven years ago. And
/0/31471/coverbig.jpg?v=02b01ebcb0f73832f53ecdd04cea4870)
Mr. Nelson Winning His Ex-wife's Heart
In their three years of marriage, Chelsea had been a dutiful wife to Edmund. She used to think that her love and care would someday melt Edmund's cold heart, but she was wrong. Finally, she couldn't take the disappointment any longer and chose to end the marriage. Edmund had always thought that hi
