Max Payton lives by two rules:

Size and strength win any fight, and never show weakness.

When a rash of assaults sends Bowler University into a tailspin, Max volunteers to help teach a self-defense class. One of the other instructors is the beautiful, pixie-faced girl he keeps butting heads with … and who challenges everything he thought he knew.

Lea Travers avoids guys like Max—cocky jocks who assume she's fragile because of a disability caused by a childhood accident. She likes to be in control, and something about being with Max makes her feel anything but. During the moments he lets his guard down, Lea sees a soul as broken inside as she is outside. Trusting him is a whole other problem …

When the attacks ramp up and hit close to home, Lea and Max must learn, before it's too late, that true strength can come from vulnerability … and giving in to trust is sometimes the only way to make things right.