Thin Ice

Alison Wilson knows what it's like to fall in pursuit of her goals only to stand up and try again; hockey taught her at a young age that failure is inevitable and that true failure comes from giving up. That mentality is easy enough to follow in sports, but when it comes to relationships - both platonic and romantic - breaking out of her comfort zone is a debilitating task. For years now, she's ignored the feelings she harbors for her best friend Hunter to avoid jeopardizing the friendship she holds so dear to her heart. As if that internal conflict doesn't weigh on her enough, new-boy Tristan moves to town and inserts himself into her team and friend group, pushing the very limits of her forgiveness and maturity.

Ali has survived her fair share of life's shitstorms while chasing the constant self-improvement she craves, but moving on from her past is almost as terrifying as not moving at all. Try as she might, she can't let go of past burns long enough to find warmth in the new people and new situations that she now shuns: it's easier to stay in the middle, caught between the safety of what she has and the thrill of what she wants. She'd rather skate the same route over and over on the ice than abandon her path.

But any hockey player knows that ice can break, and thin ice is a danger even to the most skilled of skaters.