Spiral

The second installment in a series that began with Collide, the novel follows two storylines that converge at a charity fundraiser hosted by the Toronto Thunder, a professional NHL hockey team.

Elias Westbrook is a rookie defenseman for the Thunder. A viral video turned him into tabloid fodder despite his quiet nature, and he has yet to score his first goal. Coach Wilson warns that general manager Marcus Smith-Beaumont is unhappy; if Elias does not score soon, the organization may question signing him. His troubles deepen when a stalker fan poses as his fiancée to sneak into his hotel room.

Sage Beaumont is a struggling ballerina who dreams of dancing the lead in Swan Lake for Nova Ballet Theatre (NBT). At an open audition, artistic director Aubrey Zimmerman laughs her off; the company prioritizes social media popularity over talent. Sage's parents had drug addictions and abandoned her and her younger brother, Sean, a diabetic teenager whose boarding school tuition her uncle, Marcus Smith-Beaumont, the Thunder's GM, helps cover. Sage teaches ballet and takes any performing job she can find.

Marcus calls Sage with a paid gig at the Thunder's fundraiser. That evening, Elias's best friend and teammate, Aiden Crawford, asks Sage to outbid Elias's stalker in the charity auction. Sage bids five thousand dollars and wins a date with Elias, who freezes upon learning she is the GM's niece. He gives her his phone number, but Sage discovers it belongs to his agent, Mason. Furious, she storms into the Thunder's locker room. Elias explains the mix-up is a safety habit and gives her his real number.

On their first date at the CN Tower's revolving restaurant, Sage shares her family history and her dream of becoming a principal dancer. Afterward, he carries her on his back when her heels hurt, and they end up at Lake Ontario, a place she visited as a teenager to escape. He teaches her to skip rocks, and they tumble into the water together. He walks her home but does not kiss her goodnight.

A paparazzi photo labels Sage as Elias's girlfriend. She proposes they fake date to ease his media pressure and boost her following enough for NBT to notice her. Elias refuses, and Sage storms off. Marcus gives Elias an ultimatum: Show improvement or face a trade. When a reporter asks about Sage's parents' drug charges at a press conference, Elias impulsively declares Sage is his girlfriend on live television. She gains thousands of followers but is conflicted. Elias later interrupts a date she arranged with another man and admits he has changed his mind. They set ground rules: No gifts or flowers, no falling in love, and trusted friends may know the truth, but not Sean.

A candle fire destroys Sage's apartment, and Elias insists she move in with him. She meets Aiden's girlfriend, Summer, who becomes her first real female friend. That night, insomnia keeps Sage awake until she finds Elias having a nightmare on the couch. She holds his hand until he calms, and they share the bed. For the first time, she falls asleep easily.

The lines between fake and real blur steadily. Elias attends her performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream with peonies, breaking the no-flowers rule. He kisses her when she nearly says "fake" in a crowded lobby, insisting it was only a cover. At the pre-playoffs dinner, he pulls her into a storage room and nearly kisses her before stopping, revealing he has been celibate for four years.

On Sage's birthday, Elias takes her to a drive-in screening of Dirty Dancing and gives her a cake he baked from scratch. He reveals his past: At eighteen, his biological father staged photos of Elias to look like drug use and blackmailed his adoptive parents. Though lawyers settled the case, Elias has been secretly paying his biological father ever since. The trauma explains his nightmares and his four-year vow of celibacy.

Progress is complicated when Elias learns Sage's ex-boyfriend, Owen Hart, has been called up to the Thunder, a fact she never mentioned. At her first game, Elias breaks through his scoring drought with a hat trick, three goals in one game. Afterward, he confronts Sage about hiding Owen, and the argument escalates into a passionate physical encounter that leaves both shaken.

When Elias is injured during a playoff game and flies home against medical advice, Sage draws him an Epsom salt bath. He asks her to join him, and in the tub he is intimate with her for the first time. Sage's landlord calls to say her apartment is ready. Elias asks her not to leave. She stays.

Sage secretly auditions for and wins the dual principal role of Odette and Odile in NBT's Swan Lake. Zimmerman, who laughed at her months earlier, acknowledges she made him eat his words. She calls Elias first, sobbing with joy, and says "I love you," but he assumes she is speaking to Marcus, who is nearby. That night, she tells Elias directly that she is in love with him. He freezes, says "I should go," and leaves.

Aiden and Marcus push Elias to confront his feelings. The Thunder lose the Stanley Cup Finals. After the final game, Sage waits in the arena tunnel. Elias confesses he loves her, has known since the first time she laughed at him, and is sorry he could not say it sooner. They kiss. Back at the apartment, they have sex for the first time, Elias breaking his four-year vow. Afterward, he asks her to be his real girlfriend, and she accepts.

Sean visits for a weekend. They celebrate Sage's role at the CN Tower restaurant. In Connecticut, Sage meets Elias's adoptive parents, Jane and Ian Westbrook. Elias visits his biological father, delivers a final check, and tells the man never to contact him again. He reveals a new tattoo of a sage plant on his wrist, because he wants Sage with him always.

Swan Lake rehearsals prove treacherous. Sage's alternate, Ashley, pressures her boyfriend Adam, Sage's scene partner, to sabotage the lifts. Adam drops Sage, injuring her ankle. Meanwhile, Elias's biological father appears on television in a drunken attempt to smear his son but collapses mid-sentence. Elias watches calmly; the threat has lost its power.

On opening night, Adam's lifts falter again. Before the final act, Sage confronts him, and he admits Ashley coerced him. The last performance is flawless. As roses rain down, a single pink peony lands at center stage, and the audience gives a standing ovation.

After the show, Elias drives Sage to the beach at Lake Ontario, where their friends and family are gathered around a campfire. They set new rules for their real relationship: honesty, different flowers every week, and no expiration date. Sage notes that Elias broke every rule on their original list, including the last one: no falling in love.

An epilogue three years later reveals Sage and Elias married at Lake Ontario. They have adopted Nina, a former student from Sage's ballet class whose parents abandoned her. Sage has completed three years as NBT's principal dancer and purchased the studio where she used to teach. Sean graduates on a hockey scholarship to Dalton University, dedicating his achievement to Sage. The found family surrounds them at the ceremony.