Who breaks first

Every guy on campus secretly wants her. Every guy on campus is completely terrified of her.

On paper, her name is Anastasia Wood. But if anyone calls her that, they're asking for a black eye. She goes by Anna now-a sharp name for the version of herself she built to survive.

Scoring a full-ride soccer scholarship to Briar University was supposed to be Anna's escape from her toxic family in England. Except they ruined it, traveling across the Atlantic right alongside her. With her freedom choked out, the only person she can stomach is her twin brother; the rest can rot.

The soccer pitch is Anna's only safe space to find peace and outrun reality. Everywhere else, she is cold, blunt, and rude. She has zero time for college drama, and even less for Briar's hockey obsession. She makes it clear: she hates the sport, hates the hype, and thinks the players are arrogant pricks.

Hannah and Allie are the only ones stubborn enough to try and break through her defenses. Everyone else steers clear. Anna is dangerous, and she likes it that way. It keeps people at a distance.

Except for Dean Di Laurentis.

Dean is the king of casual. He's used to girls melting, and he's never met a challenge he couldn't charm. When Anna treats him like dirt, it doesn't wound his ego-it hooks him. He's fascinated by the British soccer star who is completely immune to his smile.
What starts as mutual hatred spirals into a high-stakes game of chicken. Dean wants to tear down her walls to prove he can. Anna wants to ruin the pretty boy who thinks the world revolves around ice.

But between sharp tongues, dark family secrets, and a fierce tension, the line between pushing buttons and catching feelings starts to blur.