DEFENSELESS

Some people spend their whole lives trying to outrun the past.

Sixteen-year-old Tate Rollins has learned that survival means keeping her head down, raising her little brother, and never asking anyone for help. In a town that has already decided who her family is, hope feels like a luxury she cant afford.

Graham Wells has everything shes supposed to resent—popularity, a future built around football, and the kind of last name that opens every door. When Tate is pressured into helping him save his English grade, the last thing either of them expects is to find themselves wanting more than reluctant afternoons together.

But reluctant tutoring soon becomes shared secrets, unexpected trust, and feelings neither of them can afford—especially when Graham belongs to the family Tate has every reason to hate.

Then questions about the tragedy that shattered Tates family begin leading back to the Wells name.

Graham must decide whether he is willing to stand against everything he has ever known for the girl his world taught him not to trust. And Tate must decide whether trusting him is worth lowering the walls she has spent years building.

Because sometimes the greatest risk isnt falling in love.

Its choosing to become defenseless.