Destiny on Ice (Boys of Winter #1)(82)

S.R. Grey is an Amazon Top 100 and a #1 Barnes & Noble Bestselling author. She is the author of the brand new Boys of Winter hockey romance series, the popular Judge Me Not books, the Promises series, the Inevitability duology, A Harbour Falls Mystery trilogy, and the Laid Bare series of novellas. Ms. Grey's works have appeared on multiple Amazon Bestseller lists, including Top 100 several times. She’s also a #1 Bestselling Author on Barnes & Noble and a Top 100 Bestselling Author on iTunes.

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Maybe the hardest thing to write, next to those blasted blurbs, is this section. I don’t want to miss anyone, and I always fear I might.

So, here goes everything and nothing….

Thank you first and foremost to the readers. Without you, I’d have no voice, no stories to share, and, God forbid, there’d probably be no Brent Oliver! GASP! I know, right? See how important you are?

Next, thanks to all the bloggers and loyal readers of my work. I love you all!!

Thank you also to Christopher John, who is not only a great photographer, but a friend, as well. Your fabulous photo of Assad Shalhoub, the one that now adorns this cover, captured Brent Oliver so perfectly. Speaking of the cover, big thanks go out to Najla Qamber for designing a book jacket that completely captures the feel of the novel.

Thank you, Franci N., for taking the first look and giving me early feedback on Brent, Aubrey and the gang. That includes Brent 51 and Al. insert alligator emoji here

Thank you to Kristin S. and the amazing editing team over at Hot Tree Editing. And thanks to Emily and her team at E.M. Tippetts for formatting services that go above and beyond. I always seem to end up in some kind of last-minute panic, and they always calm me down.

Last, but not least, thank you to my hockey “consultants.” You guys rock!





If you enjoyed Destiny on Ice, check out S.R. Grey’s standalone New Adult Romance novel, The After of Us.



When Will Gartner finds out he has a five-year-old precocious little daughter named Lily, his world is turned upside-down.





Read the first chapter now….





Will



“College graduate, that’s me.”

It’s so hard to believe that I have to utter those words again, out loud, one more time. And then I need more, just to make it really real.

Leaning my head back to stare up at an azure-blue sky, I rise up in the seat of the nice, new BMW convertible I’m driving and scream as loudly as I can, “I’m a goddamn college graduate, motherf*ckers.”

Take that, all you pricks who didn’t believe in me.

I jerk the wheel back just in time to keep from veering off the road, and thus into vast desert nothingness. But yeah, once I’m back on track I think about how no one thought I’d succeed. Not my ex-girlfriend, Cassie, not my mom, and certainly not my stepdad, Greg. I should mention that Greg’s not technically my stepdad. Dude never bothered to “officially” adopt me. Not that it matters, not anymore. I’m about to turn twenty-two.

I’m all grown up…and a f*cking college grad, as established.

As I hit the gas, the Mojave Desert becomes a hazy blur, my great trek to Las Vegas almost near its end. Yeah, good ole Sin City is where I’m headed. So many Californians take this trip for pleasure. But me, I’m going home.

I estimate I should hit the state line in about another hour—maybe less, at the rate I’m flying—then I’ll be back in my home state of Nevada. Of course, I won’t be there for long. I’m all set to fly to New York City at the end of the week.

Shit, I have to laugh. I’m a goddamn coming-home success story, if ever there was one. That’s right—I, Will Gartner, former f*ck-up extraordinaire, have not only graduated from a prestigious college—with honors, no less—but I’ve also lined up a sweet-ass job in the largest city in the country.

As of next Monday, a week from today, I’ll be putting my fancy new graphic design skills—some taught to me at college and others I just have an innate talent for—to work.

And for fat stacks, no less.

When I arrive in New York I’ll have a couple of days ahead of me in which to settle in, which is good. Gotta get myself set up in the cool apartment I think I want. If I back out, though, it doesn’t matter. Mom and Greg have me booked in some fancy Manhattan hotel for however long I need.

Still, what I really want is to do this shit on my own from day one. It’s time to cut the ties to my past and quit relying on other people to do shit for me, especially when I can manage things for myself. This is the new me, you see: A Will Gartner who is finally free.

Funny how I don’t feel so very free.

I guess I’ve always seen myself as more of a freelance kind of artist. My dream was once to publish a comic book line, one I created a long time ago. I used to hope maybe I could turn my early work into a graphic novel, and possibly create a whole series from there. I dreamed of bringing to life in vivid color the characters on my sketch pad, praying one day they’d be seen by others, even if it only ever turned out to be a few.