Y/n has spent years keeping everyone at arm’s length. As Briar University’s grumpiest hockey player, he’s perfectly happy sticking to hockey, classes, and solitude. Then Allie Hayes decides they’re friends. Bright, outgoing, and impossible to ignore, Allie slowly works her way past Y/n’s walls with her relentless optimism and unwavering loyalty. What begins as an unlikely friendship turns into something neither of them expected, forcing Y/n to confront his fears of vulnerability and trust. As feelings grow and past wounds threaten to pull them apart, Y/n must decide if risking his heart is worth losing the one person who makes him want to let people in. A grumpy × sunshine college hockey romance filled with banter, slow-burn tension, and the girl who becomes the exception to every rule.