Chapter 2

People say drinking makes you stupid.

They were not wrong.

I woke up hungover and stared at the love letter I'd sent the campus heartthrob. I wanted to slap myself unconscious.

"Of all the people. You went after Julian Sutton?"

Cafeteria. I lunged to shut my best friend up. Her volume was a crime.

She dropped it to a hiss. "You know that Maybach on campus?"

I shook my head.

"His."

"His family's filthy rich. And he hates being lied to. Somebody tried it anyway. That person was in the hospital the same day."

I was so dead.

Except that didn't match the Julian Sutton in my head.

I'd had his number for six months. We'd never talked. Last night was the first time.

I opened my phone and stared at what he'd sent at 3 a.m.

One word. "Mm."

Sitting there under my 100-word confession like it owned the place. Like a bomb on a timer.

My best friend was still spilling.

"They say he's got someone. The one that got away. He's been saving himself for her. No girl on campus has the guts to go after him."

"You're the first."

"..."

Then a new text from Julian landed.

The Meridian Residences. Room 608.

Pack your stuff and come over.

My hand jerked. The phone hit the table.

Was he going to kill me? Or worse?

"What? You look awful."

I couldn't drag her into this. I shook my head fast. "Nothing. Slipped."

I picked the phone up and tested it. "Julian. Did you get hacked?"

"No."

So he wanted something.

I blocked him.

I was not giving him a chance to do anything.