Heart on Hold

Addison Reese doesn't have room for a pulse that skips.

As a first-generation nursing student, her life is a delicate balancing act of grueling clinicals, a high-stakes scholarship, and the weight of her family's expectations. To Addi, "holding it together" isn't a choice-it's a survival tactic. One slip-up, one failed exam, or one wrong distraction, and the future she's sacrificed everything for disappears.

Lucas Thorne is the distraction she was never supposed to have.

The star quarterback and heir to a business legacy, Lucas is a prisoner of a different kind. Managed by a mother who views his life as a series of strategic moves, Lucas is used to being "held" to a standard of perfection that leaves no room for his own desires.

When a midnight confrontation in the library sparks a friction neither can ignore, they enter a dangerous game. For Addi, being with Lucas isn't just a distraction-it's a threat to the scholarship that is her only way out. For Lucas, choosing Addi means risking the only world he's ever known.

In a world where every move is monitored and every heart is guarded, they must decide: do they keep holding on to the lives they were told to live, or do they finally let go?

Between the pressure to succeed and the cost of a mistake, how much are they willing to lose for a love that wasn't part of the plan?