Chapter 1

Ryan Collins had been chasing the most popular girl at school, Madison Carter, for six months.

She rejected him every single time.

Then one day, he came to me.

“I heard you and Madison hate each other. Whatever you have, she wants.”

“Can I pretend to pursue you? I just want to make her jealous.”

I froze.

I’d had a crush on Ryan for five years.

But this was only the third time he’d ever spoken to me.

I wanted to say no.

Somehow, I found myself nodding instead.

The next day, Ryan started pursuing me.

He made sure everyone saw it. He bought me gifts, ate lunch with me, waited for me after school...

Just as he’d predicted, Madison finally started making moves on him.

What confused me was that Ryan never responded to her advances.

He kept going out with me.

Once, outside my apartment building, he even kissed me hard enough to leave me breathless.

I started to wonder if maybe—just maybe—something between Ryan and me had become real.

The very next day, he and Madison officially announced they were together.

Then he handed me a card and smiled.

“If there’s ever someone you want to go after, I’ll help you too.”

I was terrified he’d see how much it hurt.

Even more terrified he’d think I would cling to him.

So I answered quickly.

“It’s fine. I can handle him myself.”

...

Ryan and Madison made their relationship official that weekend.

Only two weeks after the rumors about Ryan and me had started, I became the school’s laughingstock.

The moment I walked into class Monday morning, every pair of eyes turned toward me.

Curious.

Contemptuous.

Gloating.

I ignored them, lowered my head, and sat down.

A moment later, the quiet classroom filled with whispers again.

Dina and several girls crowded around Madison.

“Madison, I told you.”

Dina laughed.

“How could Ryan ever like a plus-size girl like Emma Reynolds?”

Another girl immediately chimed in.

“Look at that round, freckled face. I couldn’t understand why Ryan suddenly gave up on Madison to chase a pig. Now it makes sense. He was just trying to make Madison jealous.”

They burst out laughing.

“Hopefully nobody actually thought it was real.”

They glanced in my direction.

“She should’ve looked in a mirror first. Only a girl like Madison deserves to be Ryan’s girlfriend.”

My fingers slowly curled into fists.

Avery Smith, the girl sitting next to me, gently touched my arm.

“You okay?”

I shook my head.

I’d known this day would come from the moment I agreed to help Ryan.

Still, my mind drifted back to that day.

Ryan had been standing a little too close, the scent of cedar surrounding me.

I’d clutched the strap of my backpack and stared at him with wide eyes.

Ryan was widely considered the hottest guy at Cedar Ridge High School.

He liked leaving the top two buttons of his white button-down undone and rolling up his sleeves to expose his muscular forearms.

He looked like a young Russian mobster straight out of a movie.

Dangerous and impossibly attractive.

I didn’t snap out of my daze until he repeated himself.

“Sorry. I really don’t know what else to do,” he’d said.

“I know you and Madison don’t get along, so I thought... if I started pursuing you, maybe she’d feel threatened.”

“Of course, I won’t force you if you don’t want to. But if you agree, I’ll pay you well when this is over.”

The tiny spark of happiness in my chest died instantly.

Heat rushed to my face.

I should’ve refused.

But somehow, I remembered the first time I’d seen him.

For five years, we’d passed each other countless times.

And for all those years, I’d secretly liked him.

If I gave up this chance, I might never get another one.

So I nodded.

I knew my secret would stay buried forever.

Then I scrambled for a reasonable excuse.

Money sounded good.

So I asked softly, “You’ll pay me when it’s over, right?”