Breaking the ice

Eighteen-year-old Grace Carter has spent her life hiding from the truth of her broken home, enduring the cruelty of an alcoholic father in the small town of Willow Springs, Texas. Her only escapes are the books she reads and the cheerleading routines she uses to mask the scars of her reality. All she wants is a way out, a chance to live her life on her own terms.
Enter Jaxon Reed-the charismatic, cocky captain of Westbridge University's hockey team. At 18, he's already a hockey prodigy, and everyone knows it. He's got everything-looks, talent, and the confidence that comes with it. But underneath the bravado, Jaxon carries a past that haunts him, one he's not ready to confront.

When they're paired together for an English project, neither Grace nor Jaxon is thrilled. Grace sees Jaxon as just another entitled athlete, while Jaxon thinks Grace is too distant to care about. But as they spend more time together, something unexpected happens. Jaxon begins to notice Grace's hidden pain, the way she flinches at loud noises and keeps people at arm's length. Grace, in turn, starts to see the cracks in Jaxon's perfect exterior-his reliance on hockey as an escape from a past that refuses to let him go.
What begins as forced proximity soon becomes something neither of them saw coming-an undeniable connection that neither of them is prepared for. As their secrets unravel, they'll discover that sometimes, the most broken people are the ones who heal each other.