Winter's Mate: Fated on Ice

CHAPTER 1: Christmas Eve Nightmare.

ROSIE

The Christmas lights hung across the ski lodge's ceiling, blurring into streaks of gold and white as tears filled my eyes. I blinked hard, biting my lower lip as I tried to focus on anything in the room. The sound of the clock ticking, the muffled sounds of people, the snow falling outside the window—but nothing could take me away from this moment.

"Come on, Rosie. Don't be dramatic." Josh's voice held that cruel amusement I'd somehow missed for three whole months. Three months of believing someone like Joshua Carter—star hockey player, business major, campus golden boy—could actually want someone like me.

Idiot. I’d been a complete i***t.

I clutched the hotel comforter tighter around my naked body, trembling from cold or betrayal as my gaze fell on my dress.

The dress I'd specifically bought for tonight to celebrate our hundred-day anniversary lay crumpled on the ground like discarded gift wrap, which was fitting because I'd been Josh's Christmas present to himself.

A joke.

A bet.

"G—get out," I whispered, my voice breaking with every word.

"What was that?" Josh leaned against the doorframe of the hotel room, his jacket hanging open over his bare chest, the chest I'd felt against my palms minutes ago. My stomach coiled in disgust.

Behind him, I could see his friends—Tyler, Mila, and Brad—watching with amusement. And worst of all, standing at the back with her phone held up, was Sophia.

Sophia Reed. My roommate. My best friend since freshman year.

"I said get out!" I shouted, the words laced with humiliation and anger.

Sophia's perfectly glossed lips curved into a smile as she tapped her phone screen. “It’s already online, Rosie. Five hundred views. Enjoy the fame.”

My breath came in short pants, my hands trembling as my stomach dropped. Video? Which video? I quickly looked to Josh for an explanation as he smirked.

"The bet was whether you’d fall for me. And you did. Hard." Josh's tone was taunting, and there it was—that casual cruelty that had probably always been there, hiding under the charm. "“Eight hundred bucks. Though honestly? I earned every penny with that body of yours."

The mocking laughter followed, and I prayed the ground would open and swallow me.

I'd been naive all this time.

I'd known I was fat. I'd lived in this body for twenty-two years—had survived the casual cruelty of middle school, the pointed comments from my mother every time I reached for seconds, the way my father would sigh and shake his head in disappointment. But Josh had made me believe—God, I'd been so f*****g stupid—that he saw past all that.

Three months of dating. Three months of him introducing me to his friends, bringing me to parties, holding my hand on campus like he was proud to be seen with me. Three months of thinking maybe, just maybe, I was worth choosing, and I'd been over the moon.

But it had all been a lie. A bet.

"You should see your face right now," Tyler said, his phone also out and recording. "This is f*****g gold."

Something inside me shattered. My heart, the fragile self-worth I'd spent years carefully building, crumbled into pieces.

I scrambled off the bed, my hands shaking as I grabbed my boots, still wrapped with the comforter, I couldn't stay here under their mocking faces. My chest was heaving and it was getting hard to breathe.

"Rosie, wait—" Sophia's voice followed me, but I didn't stop.

I pushed past Josh and ran. Ran away with my remaining dignity.

The cold hit me like a physical blow, stealing what little breath I had left, and I gasped. It was Christmas Eve in Highland Creek, Colorado, the location I'd picked because it had good resort accommodations for couples. If I'd known this would happen, would I have chosen it?

I shook my head. There was no use crying over spilled milk. It had been snowing all day. The parking lot was a winter wonderland, all pristine white and twinkling lights, looking like something from an ice fairy tale.

"Come on, Rosie!" Josh's voice came, and I glanced back to see that he and his friends had followed me out. "Don't be so sensitive. It was just a joke!"

A joke. Three months of my life. My virginity, which I'd given him just an hour ago in what I'd thought was a beautiful moment of trust and love. My dignity. All a joke.

I stumbled, my boot catching on something hidden under the snow, and barely caught myself against a parked car. That's when the sobs came—huge, gasping things that tore out of my chest and fogged in the frozen air.

"Jesus, she's actually crying," Mila gloated, and I heard the distinctive click of a camera phone. "This is better than I thought."

I sank down into the snow, my back against the car's cold metal, and buried my face in my hands. Let them take their pictures. Let them have their fun. What did it matter anymore? By tomorrow, everyone at Silverwestern would have seen the video. My parents would find out. The entire world would know that Rosie Martinez was exactly what they'd always thought—a desperate, pathetic fat girl who actually believed someone could want her.

"That's enough."

A new voice rang through the snow. It was low, rough, and absolutely angry.

I looked up through my blurry eyes to see a man I'd never met before standing between me and Josh's group. He was tall, well over six feet, with dark hair covered in snow. He wore just a black henley and jeans despite the cold.

“Who the hell are you?” Josh scoffed.

“Someone who’s giving you ten seconds to walk away.” The stranger's voice was eerily calm, which somehow made it more terrifying.

Tyler took a step forward, “Man, this is none of your business.”

What happened next occurred so abruptly that I almost missed it. The stranger moved—just one step forward—and his fist connected with Tyler's jaw with the sound of bone cracking.

Tyler went down hard, blood spraying from his mouth onto the pristine snow.

"Anyone else?" The stranger's gaze swept over Josh, Mila, and Brad, all of whom suddenly moved several steps back. "That's what I thought. Get your friend and get the f**k out of my town."

"You broke my jaw!" Tyler's words were muffled, probably by blood and broken teeth. He struggled to his feet, held up by Josh and Marcus.

"Be grateful it wasn't your neck." The stranger turned his back on them—a gesture of such casual dominance that even I felt it—and crouched down in front of me. "Hey. You okay?"

I stared at him, my brain struggling to process what had just happened. Up close, I could see he had the most unusual eyes—amber colored, almost glowing in the parking lot lights.

His lips were pressed in a thin line, which contrasted with his angular, sharp jawline and high cheekbones. The face of an Adonis. A handsome face shouldn't be looking at me with concern. Shouldn't be looking at me at all.

"Stupid question," he muttered to himself. "Can you stand?"

I managed a nod, not trusting my voice.

He offered his hand. It was bare despite the cold, and when I took it, his skin was impossibly warm—almost hot. He pulled me to my feet with easy strength, and the comforter slipped slightly. His eyes didn't wander, didn't take advantage. Instead, he immediately shrugged out of his jacket and wrapped it around my shoulders.

The jacket smelled like sandalwood and pine and something wild I couldn't identify. It was warm from his body heat, and I found myself pulling it closer.

"I'm fine," I managed, my voice hoarse from crying and cold.

"You're in a parking lot in a comforter in a snowstorm. You're not fine." His voice was gentler now, the fury from moments ago completely gone. "Do you have somewhere to go?"

I thought about the lodge room I'd shared with Josh. About going back to campus, where everyone would have seen the video by tomorrow. About calling my parents, who would somehow make this my fault—my mother's tears about family reputation, my father's disappointment that I couldn't even manage my personal life properly.

"No," I whispered.

Something flickered in those strange amber eyes—anger, maybe, or pain. "Okay. Come with me."

"I don't know you."

"Name's Jude. Jude Winters." He tilted his head back toward the lodge, where Tyler was being helped inside by his friends, still bleeding. Sophia stood in the doorway, her phone finally lowered, watching us with wide eyes. "And I'm a hell of a lot safer than what you're running from."

He had a point.

"Come on," Jude said again, his tone coaxing now. "There's a bar in town. It's warm. You can figure out your next move there."

I should have said no. Should have called a cab, found another hotel, done literally anything other than trusting a stranger who'd just knocked out my ex-boyfriend's friend in a parking lot.

But when I looked into Jude's eyes, I didn't see pity. Didn't see disgust. Didn't see the cruel amusement that had been in Josh's eyes an hour ago. I just saw concern. Real, genuine concern, like I was a person worth caring about.

"Okay," I heard myself say.

His entire face transformed with relief. "Good. My bike's over here."

A motorcycle. Of course, it was a motorcycle.

The bike was parked at the edge of the lot, somehow still visible despite the snow—a sleek black thing that probably cost more than my entire semester's tuition. Jude swung his leg over it and looked back at me expectantly.

"You're kidding, right?" I muttered.

"Don't worry. I drive carefully." He patted the seat behind him. "Have you ever ridden before?"

"No."

"Just hold on tight. I've got you."

I climbed on behind him, the comforter and his jacket making it awkward, but Jude didn't comment. When I wrapped my arms around his waist, I felt the solid warmth of him even through his shirt, felt the way his muscles tensed slightly at my touch if I affected him.

The engine roared to life beneath us, the vibration traveling through my entire body.

"Where are we going?" I shouted over the noise.

"Somewhere safe," he called back. "I promise."

And despite everything—despite Josh and Sophia and the video that was probably still racking up views—I believed him.

The bike pulled out of the parking lot, leaving the lodge and my shattered life behind in the snow. Cold wind whipped against my face, stealing my breath, but Jude's body in front of me was warm and solid. Real.

I pressed my face against his back and let myself cry, losing myself in his calming and comforting scent.