The Chase

The first installment in Elle Kennedy's Briar U series, a companion to the Off-Campus series set at the fictional Briar University, follows the slow-burn romance between Summer Heyward-Di Laurentis, a wealthy, outgoing fashion major who has just transferred from Brown University, and Colin "Fitz" Fitzgerald, an introverted hockey player and aspiring video game designer.

Summer arrives at Briar expecting to move into the Kappa Beta Nu sorority house, only to be rejected by the chapter's Standards Committee. Kaya, the chapter president, cites Summer's expulsion from Brown as a reputational liability. Humiliated and without housing, Summer receives a call from her older brother, Dean Heyward-Di Laurentis, a former Briar hockey player now teaching in New York. Dean invites her to a New Year's Eve party with his old teammates, promising he has an idea for her living situation.

At the party, Summer pursues Fitz, a quiet artist she has crushed on since meeting him the previous year. Though Fitz finds her stunning and surprisingly easy to talk to, he resists his attraction, convinced they are incompatible. When his former captain, Garrett Graham, urges him to give Summer a chance, Fitz privately dismisses her as "fluff" and "surface level." He resolves to kiss her at midnight but spots her kissing his roommate Hunter Davenport instead. Fitz leaves the bar, unaware that Summer overheard every dismissive word.

Two weeks later, Summer moves into the Hastings townhouse that Fitz, Hunter, and their third roommate, Mike Hollis, share. On her first day of classes, she meets Brenna Jensen, the sharp-tongued daughter of Briar's hockey coach, Chad Jensen, who becomes her closest friend. Summer confides that she overheard Fitz's comments and kissed Hunter out of hurt.

The household settles into an uneasy rhythm. Hunter flirts openly, while Fitz keeps his distance but shows a protective streak. Summer's academic advisor, assistant dean Hal Richmond, disapproves that her father pulled strings for her admission and places her on a zero-tolerance policy. Her History of Fashion professor, Erik Laurie, a celebrated former fashion editor, unsettles Summer with his lingering touches and overly familiar manner.

Friction between Summer and Fitz escalates through a series of confrontations. When Summer mentions she has read the dense fantasy series on his nightstand, Fitz reacts with skepticism, and she interprets this as him doubting her intelligence. After Fitz goes on a date with Nora Ridgeway, a classmate, and returns feeling no chemistry, Summer's sarcasm provokes their biggest fight yet. Fitz carries her upstairs, demanding to know what is really bothering her. She blurts out, "I liked you," then refuses to elaborate and kicks him out.

Their dynamic shifts at a post-game gathering when a game of Spin the Bottle forces them to kiss. The kiss begins tenderly and quickly deepens, but Fitz disappears afterward. A breakthrough comes when Fitz finds Summer crying on her bedroom floor during a panic attack over her midterm essay. She confesses that she has attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and struggles to organize her thoughts on paper. Fitz proposes an exchange: He will help with the essay if she lets him sketch her as the basis for a character in his new video game. Their nightly sessions become a ritual that draws them closer.

Fitz receives an unexpected call from Kamal Jain, the billionaire founder of a prestigious game studio called Orcus Games, who has played Fitz's self-designed game, Legion 48, and admires its artwork. Despite disdaining athletes, Kamal invites Fitz to an interview and then to a charity fundraiser in New York as a final evaluation.

Tensions boil over during a night out at a local bar. After a frat boy claims Brenna was "asking for it" because of her clothing, Fitz slams him against the wall. In the parking lot, Fitz confesses that Summer is on his mind constantly but insists that wanting her is "exhausting." Stung by his ambivalence, Summer accepts Hunter's standing invitation to dinner.

At a later game, Fitz takes a puck to the face. Summer sneaks into the locker room to check on him, and their encounter escalates into a sexual one. Fitz then avoids her for two days. When Summer confronts him and demands a clear answer about whether he wants to be with her, he hesitates. She tells him it is the wrong answer and drives away.

Hunter tells Fitz he plans to ask Summer out and asks whether this will be a problem. Unable to voice his true feelings, Fitz says he does not care. When Hunter invites Summer to dinner that evening, Fitz enters her room and tells her not to go but cannot explain why. At the restaurant, Summer realizes her feelings are for Fitz and tells Hunter honestly. She returns home, goes to Fitz's room, and asks three yes-or-no questions: Does he still think she is surface level? No. Did he plan to run away after the locker room? No. Is he tired of fighting their attraction? Yes. She undresses and climbs into his bed.

Afterward, they exchange vulnerable confessions. Summer reveals the true story behind the sorority fire: She received a failing grade for unintentional plagiarism and, in a moment of shame, burned the paper, accidentally igniting the sunroom. She would rather be seen as reckless than as someone who failed. Fitz shares the story of his parents' bitter custody battle, explaining how both parents weaponized his words against each other, teaching him to become invisible and guard every emotion.

Their new relationship creates tension with Hunter, who barely speaks to either of them. During practice, Hunter and Fitz come to blows on the ice before Hunter grudgingly concedes he will get over it. Meanwhile, Summer's conflict with Laurie escalates. She reports his behavior to Richmond, who dismisses her concerns. In a private meeting, Laurie tries to kiss her; she pushes him away. He retaliates by giving her midterm a D-minus, then humiliates her in class by projecting her paper as a supposed example of poor writing, her name briefly visible on the cover page. Fitz insists the paper deserved at least a B and encourages her to appeal.

At Kamal's fundraiser, held at Summer's family hotel in Manhattan, Kamal grows hostile, calling Summer a "gold digger" and dismissing Fitz as a "dumb jock." Fitz tells Kamal off and walks away from the job. Upstairs, Summer tries to end the relationship, arguing that her tendency to attract drama is incompatible with his need for invisibility. Fitz refuses, telling her he loves her for the first time and declaring he would rather lose the job than lose her. They reconcile. Dean arrives unexpectedly, catches them together, and after some blustering accepts the relationship.

Laurie makes a final attempt at sabotage by moving Summer's fashion show two hours earlier, knowing her models cannot arrive in time. Fitz recruits five hockey teammates and volunteers himself as the sixth, despite his discomfort with public attention. The show succeeds, and department head Mallory Reyes praises Summer's designs. During post-show cleanup, Summer discovers Laurie groping Nora in a backstage bathroom while Nora tells him to stop. Summer strikes Laurie and pulls Nora to safety, then drives her to the home of Briar's dean, Dean Prescott, with her defense-lawyer father on speakerphone. Prescott promises swift action, and Richmond privately apologizes for dismissing Summer's earlier warning.

In the aftermath, Kamal calls Fitz to apologize and offers him the position. Fitz tells him he will think about it. The novel closes with Fitz reflecting on how Summer has drawn him out of hiding, while Summer, bolstered by his faith and her own growing confidence, plans to appeal her grade and looks ahead to her future.