TW

Kairo Anders has spent the last three years building a reputation no one dares question. As the twenty-one-year-old captain of his university’s hockey team, he’s known for his short temper, sharp tongue, and ability to keep everyone at arm’s length. Between practices, classes, and the pressure of professional scouts watching his every move, Kairo has convinced himself that focusing on hockey is easier than letting anyone get close. Then Y/N transfers to campus. She isn’t loud or overly outgoing, but she’s comfortable in her own skin. She has a dry sense of humor, doesn’t scare easily, and has no interest in treating Kairo like some untouchable campus celebrity. Unlike everyone else, she doesn’t tiptoe around him—and she definitely doesn’t let his attitude slide. After a scheduling mistake lands them in the same upper-level psychology seminar, they’re assigned as partners for a semester-long research project worth nearly half their grade. With no way out, the two are forced to spend months together, trading sarcastic remarks in the library, grabbing coffee before meetings, and arguing over everything from study habits to music. What starts as mutual irritation slowly turns into something neither of them expected. Beneath Kairo’s cold exterior is someone carrying more pressure than anyone realizes, while behind Y/N’s calm confidence is someone who’s just as afraid of depending on other people. As the semester unfolds, late-night study sessions become long conversations, hockey games become reasons to show up for each other, and the line between pretending not to care and caring too much begins to disappear. The problem is that Kairo has spent years believing that letting someone in only gives them another chance to leave. And when the future he’s been working toward finally arrives, he’ll have to decide whether chasing the life he’s always wanted is worth risking the person he never expected to need.