“For that moment, he didn't have to obsess over the fact that, having been orphaned at the age of 15, then sent away and shoved into an intensive hockey program with little time for anything else, he effectively had no clue who the hell he even was.”

Twenty-year-old Jacob Tyler DiMara's list of struggles is a mile long: anger and abandonment issues, guilt over his parents' deaths, academic inadequacy, social and legal issues, and uncertainty about his sexuality, to name a few.

Despite all that, one area in which he's never struggled is being an elite hockey defenseman. After barely making it through juniors due to several legal troubles, JT enters into Penn State University's NCAA D1 hockey program as an academic redshirt, where he's determined not to let anyone get too close.

What's the point when everyone he loves only ends up dead or hurt?

Through unexpected bonds with his polar opposite teammate/roommate and his much older female English tutor, he's been given the chance to learn what it means to love and be loved unconditionally.

Will JT let down his walls and form new connections that might finally allow him to find himself, or will he run like he always does?