The Creaseline (Hawthorne University Series, Book One)

They told Ethan Wolfe that everything else is secondary. Hockey first. Always. So why can't he stop thinking about the girl with the purple pen and the color-coded calendar? He guards his crease like his life depends on it. Because it kind of does. Ethan is the best goalie Hawthorne University has seen in a decade. He wakes up at 5 a.m. to skate alone. He doesn't do distractions. He definitely doesn't do feelings. But when a mandatory tutoring program forces him into a library study room twice a week, he meets Nadia Chen, pre-med, brutally organized, and completely unimpressed by him. She doesn't care about his save percentage. She cares about his 68% average in Communications. She tells him the truth: "Time management isn't why you're failing. We'll get there." And for the first time in years, Ethan doesn't want to leave the room. Nadia has her own walls. Built from immigrant-parent sacrifice, a 3.94 GPA, and a calendar so color-coded it leaves no room for anything unplanned. She didn't sign up to feel something for the hockey player who shows up late and smells like ice. She signed up to pay for her textbooks. But somewhere between building essay outlines and watching him stop a puck like the net is his religion, the lines blur. He shows her the ice at 5 a.m. She shows him that a 79% can feel like winning.

What happens when the person you're not supposed to want becomes the only thing you can't ignore?Cold rink mornings & warm library nightsA hero who protects everything except his own heartA heroine who learns that "on track" isn't the same as aliveSlow-burn tension that pays offText messages that feel like heartbeatsA purple pen you'll never forgetAcademic rivals who don't even realize they're falling This is not just a love story. It's about the fathers who shape us, the sacrifices we inherit, and the moment you stop running from your family's ghosts and start choosing your own path. This is not a love story about fixing each other. It's about two people who finally stop fighting the crease and let someone in. The crease is open. Come in !