The Risk

Harvard's captain demands she stop seeing his player

Brenna Jensen is nursing a coffee at Della's Diner after being stood up when Jake Connelly, captain of Harvard's hockey team, slides uninvited into her booth.

Harvard's captain demands she stop seeing his player

Brenna Jensen is nursing a coffee at Della's Diner after being stood up when Jake Connelly, captain of Harvard's hockey team, slides uninvited into her booth. He's not here to flirt. He orders her to stop hooking up with his teammate McCarthy, insisting the sophomore is lovesick and distracted during playoffs. Brenna refuses—her love life is none of his business, and certainly not a rival captain's. She taunts him about Briar crushing Harvard in the upcoming conference finals and walks out. That night, McCarthy texts Brenna to end things, citing the need to focus on the game. Brenna reads the message and recognizes Jake's fingerprints all over it. She decides the captain of Harvard has just declared war.

Brenna seduces Jake's teammate to prove a devastating point

Brenna tracks Jake to the Dime, his favorite dive bar, wearing a halter top and short skirt. She bypasses him entirely and parks herself in his teammate Coby's lap, running her fingers along his chest, whispering about going dancing. Coby is instantly transfixed. Jake watches, jaw rigid, as Brenna demonstrates exactly how effortlessly she can bewitch his roster. After letting the seduction simmer long enough to make her point, she slides off Coby's lap and admits the whole thing was manipulation—payback for what Jake did with McCarthy. She warns him: interfere in her life again, and she will start distracting his entire team for real. Then she apologizes to Coby and offers to set him up with her friend. Jake is furious, impressed, and a little bit in trouble.

She tells her interviewer Jake Connelly is her boyfriend

Two disastrous meetings with HockeyNet executive Ed Mulder have yielded nothing but condescension. He calls her the wrong name, browses fantasy hockey mid-interview, and delivers sexist commentary about women in sports. The only moment he shows genuine interest is when discussing Jake Connelly and the Edmonton Oilers. Standing in his doorway after being dismissed, Brenna hears herself say it before she can stop: Jake Connelly is her boyfriend. Mulder's entire demeanor transforms. He invites them to a dinner party. Now Brenna needs Jake to actually play along. She contacts him through Instagram, and he agrees—with one condition. For every fake date she asks of him, he wants a real one. Brenna, who swore she would never date the enemy, grudgingly accepts the terms.