Crimson Scars

Two houses. One broken season. Zero rules.

Avery Drummond is Indiana University's star catcher-the tough-as-nails general of the red dirt. She lives for the game, masking the crushing weight of family expectations behind a flawless, sunshiny smile. Until one high-speed home plate collision tears her ACL, shatters her knee, and strips away her identity in a single, echoey 𝘗𝘰𝘗. Sidelined, broken, and forced onto crutches, Avery's brilliant smiles turn into a sharp, defensive shield. She refuses to let anyone see her bleed. Especially Matteo DeMartino.

Matt is IU's elite closing pitcher. At twenty-two, he is hyper-focused, fiercely private, and built entirely of unyielding discipline. He plays under the massive, suffocating shadow of his pro-athlete older brother and has absolutely zero time for distractions. He has always despised Avery's toxic-positive sunshine facade. But when he watches her drop in the clay from the bleachers, something primal fractures inside his chest.

They are enemies. They have traded vicious insults in the athletic complex for semesters, each despising everything the other stands for. They don't live together; they belong to two completely separate off-campus houses. But when their circles collide and the privacy of an empty living room forces Matt's massive, calloused hands onto her soft, unbraced skin, the abrasive friction between them ignites an absolute physical obsession. Behind the closed doors of his dark garage, pinned against the matte charcoal hood of his car, their mutual hatred snaps into pure, high-stakes secret release.

But in a ruthless Big Ten division, some secrets are too loud to hide from their six roommates. And some scars run far deeper than the cream and crimson.