Chapter 2

“Kai, I meant it. This isn’t revenge on my ex. I need this for myself. Otherwise I’ll spend the rest of my life as an old maid with a calculator. Do you know how paranoid I am? It’s awful. I’ll never be able to believe again that it’s ‘for love.’ All of that is a lie, I know that now. And if tomorrow you pretend we don’t know each other, I’ll understand, I promise. So are you in? Or should I start blushing over the stupid thing I’m doing?”

“Maybe I don’t mind committing it too.”

We looked at each other.

“If you want, I can help you get your girlfriend back. She must be insanely jealous, and she’ll definitely lose it if you have someone else. I don’t have any personal plans for the foreseeable future anymore, so if you want, you can be my boyfriend. Fake, obviously. I won’t make a claim on your heart or your attention, and I’ll calmly finish my classes and prepare for my thesis defense.” I fell silent, not quite believing I was saying any of this. “So what do you say, Kai… deal?”

The offer hung in the air for two seconds. Then Kaylen firmly squeezed my hand, and my heart did a somersault in my chest.

“Deal, Bri.”

I froze under that handshake, looking at him and trying to process what was happening.

Then practical Briar Adams slowly freed her hand and asked the most logical question.

“Great. Except… where is all this going to happen? I live in a dorm, in a room with a roommate. And as of tonight, I’m allergic to cars. Maybe in… in the park?”

I blinked, looking around. Right. April, wet grass—nighttime romance. I’d have to file it later under wild experiments of youth.

Something jingled in Kaylen’s hand. I lowered my gaze and saw that he’d pulled a key ring out of his windbreaker pocket. He tipped his chin toward the next street.

“We don’t need the park. My place is right there. We’re practically here.”

Across the street stood a neat three-story redbrick building with wrought-iron balconies, one of those places usually rented by upperclassmen, grad students, or professors.

“You have an apartment here?” I asked, surprised, and with reason: renting a place here cost serious money.

“Yeah. A studio. Temporarily lucky,” Kaylen clarified, waiting for me to start moving. “I live alone. It’s better for studying. I don’t like loud groups or the permanent mess in regular dorms.”

“Alone…” I repeated, feeling a wave of panic suddenly rise into my throat. All my brave speeches before the decisive step abruptly seemed too loud and stupid. “And no roommates with beer and football?”

“Nobody. Though I do like watching football sometimes.”

We reached the entrance, but at the steps I stopped again, uncertainly clenching my hands into fists and looking at the lit doorway.

“Bri, if you’ve changed your mind, you can just stay the night at my place,” Kaylen said. The first heavy drops fell from the sky, and he caught them in his palm. “It’s starting to rain. You’ll get soaked.”

“No!” I drew a determined breath and took a step toward the most reckless thing I’d ever done in my life. “Let’s go.”