One blizzard. One cabin. One uninvited hockey player.

Ho, ho, humbug.

Normally I love Christmas. The lights, the snow, the cozy traditions. Then my parents divorced. Intent to avoid awkward holiday drama, I head to our family’s secluded cabin for a nice, relaxing week alone.

At least that’s the plan until Ryder Hanson shows up uninvited and dressed like a serial killer.

Ryder has three strikes against him. One: He saw me naked. Two: He’s a hockey player. And three: My dad likes him better than me.

I want to hate him, but when he walks around the cabin all shirtless and sexy, I forget why I should. Or that the coach’s daughter and the hotshot rookie only work out in novels. But the longer we’re snowed in together, the more my heart—and body—warm to Ryder.

When the roads are cleared and the real world beckons, will we ring in the new year as a couple or will our budding romance crumble like a poorly built gingerbread house?

One broken heart. One winning bid at a date auction. One hot, grumpy hockey player.

What could go wrong?

According to my best friends, five months is too long to nurse a broken heart. They're determined to push me out of my nest made of sweatpants and sadness. I need to date; they say. They have the perfect plan; they say.

Maddox Graves is the star center of the Minnesota Rogues, and he's every woman's fantasy. Tall, dark, and broody, he's the guy you picture when you're home alone enjoying some self-care. And after my friends win a date with him at a charity auction, he's all mine for one night.

It's supposed to be a fun way to get back into the swing of dating. No pressure, no expectations, and absolutely no chance it will lead to anything more.

It's perfect.

Or it would be, if Maddox Graves wasn't an insufferable, self-absorbed mother-pucker.

I'm just an English teacher, but he thinks I'm a puck bunny after his money and fame. I think he's just another rich prick with an over-inflated ego. One who's using me and this date for a publicity stunt.

Which is why I'm so surprised when he agrees to do something selfless to help me and my students. Only one tiny string attached.

I won the date auction, but will Maddox Graves manage to win my heart?