Madeline Cline thought she had her life at Briar University figured out—until it started slipping out of her control. Between a girlfriend who speaks in futures Madeline never agreed to and a relationship that looks perfect from the outside but feels increasingly wrong in private, she tells herself she’s fine. Then she meets Dean Di Laurentis. It starts in the most humiliating place imaginable—the campus health clinic—and somehow doesn’t end there. He’s supposed to be just another Briar hockey player, loud and untouchable and not her problem. But Dean doesn’t treat her like something to fix or manage. He listens. He notices. He stays present in a way that makes everything else feel louder. He asks her to come home with him. She says no. He gives her his number anyway and tells her to call when she’s single. And suddenly, Madeline isn’t sure what part of her life she’s actually choosing anymore.