Penalty Kill

With her nose in books and his brawn getting him nowhere on or off the ice, they find themselves drawn together, sharing their baggage and behaving badly.

Jake Bryers is no stranger to the pressures of being a professional hockey player. In fact, it's something that he's dealt with consistently for the past fifteen years. Throughout his career, he's experienced it all-the unbelievably electric thrill of winning divisions and conference titles, and even making it to the Stanley cup Finals on more than one occasion. His dream was always to skate the cup at least once, but as he enters the late stage of his long, tumultuous career, he finds himself struggling to perform like he once had as a younger, inspired player.

Harper Clark has been proficient at one thing throughout her life-constantly moving forward without really going anywhere. After having moved to the Big Apple to pursue a more exciting life outside of the lonely one she found herself leading in the Midwest, she herself stagnating after getting her degree from Columbia, she finds herself continuing to quietly enjoy her job at the public library, treading water while the undeniable feeling of discontent grows stronger within her.

It's nothing short of fate when Jake and Harper happen to cross paths at the library, and though their lives couldn't be any more different, they find themselves inexplicably drawn to one another in a magnetic pull that neither of them can understand. As much as they try to fight what seems to be the universe bringing them together, what one lacks the other has in abundance, and no amount of avoidance keeps them apart.