Chapter 1

The Window He Couldn’t Climb Back Through

I had a crush on the football star next door for three years.

The first time he climbed into my room, he took my virginity.

I thought my crush had finally come true.

Until the next day, when I heard him bragging to his teammates with my own ears:

"The one I really want to chase is the cheer captain, and Mia was just practice."

He told me to buy emergency contraception myself, then turned around and kissed another girl in public, turning me into the laughingstock of the whole school.

Crying, I deleted every memory related to him, gave up on the university I had applied to for his sake, and instead applied to Cornell University, a thousand miles away.

But just when I decided to disappear completely, the man who had destroyed me with his own hands climbed into my room again and again.

"Didn't you say you liked me? Then why are you running now?"

I smiled and pushed him away.

"Chase, this time, get out of my life."

After I came home from cheer practice and was about to change for a shower, my bedroom window was smashed.

A football rolled to my feet.

Startled, I quickly grabbed my clothes and covered my chest.

"Who is it?"

Chase poked his head out from behind my curtains, then jumped in through the window with a charming smile.

"My football."

He was wearing only a pair of gray athletic shorts, sweat rolling down his pecs to his abs, his bronze skin glowing in the afternoon sun.

He took a few steps toward me, covering me in one huge shadow.

When he bent down to pick up the ball, the back of his hand brushed over my ankle and calf, and his hard knuckles sent a tremor through me.

I froze in place, my heart pounding like a drum.

Chase's friends whistled from downstairs outside my house.

He called out the window:

"Coming."

As he jumped out the window, he turned back and winked at me.

"Sorry I broke your window, Mia. I'll pay for it."

I walked to the window, and through the gap in the curtains, I saw Chase and his friends laughing and talking downstairs, making my heart race wildly.

Chase was my neighbor, and he was also the school's football star.

I had liked him ever since he moved here three years ago.

As an introvert, I forced myself to join the school's cheer squad just to get closer to him.

And today, he had actually appeared in my room?!

The little person in my head was screaming like crazy.

What I did not expect was that he climbed in through my window again that night.

"Jesus! You scared me!" I jumped up from my bed.

He leaned down and moved close to my face.

"I told you I'd pay for your window."

"Are you insane? You came over at night just to pay for my window?"

"Is that not allowed?"

"Fine, then. Fifty dollars."

"Are you sure you don't want any other compensation?"

Chase hooked a finger around the Pisces necklace on my neck and pulled me closer.

I smelled the lemon-scented body wash on him, and droplets of water from the ends of his hair fell onto my chest, bringing a trace of coldness.

Then he bit my lower lip and reached into my nightgown from behind.

Like a frightened cat, I arched my back, yet I could not help responding to his touch and kisses.

But he suddenly stopped, let me go, and gave me a playful smile.

"Do you want me to keep going?"

I opened my eyes and looked straight into his ice-blue ones.

"Yes."

Maybe my movements were too clumsy, because Chase whispered in my ear:

"First time?"

"Yes."

He frowned.

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

"I'm sure."

"I'll be gentle."

Without warning, he shoved inside me in one hard, violent thrust.

I desperately held back my moans, biting Chase's shoulder as my fingers dug into his solid back.

I listened to my parents moving around downstairs, every noise magnified in the dead of night.

Thwack

Thwack

Thwack

I felt like I had been nailed to a cross.

I did not know how long passed before he finally rolled over and lay beside me.

"I have to go back, beautiful." His tone was a little cold as he put on his clothes.

Then he jumped out the window.

I stared at the fluttering curtains, feeling as if I had lost something.

Chase's scent, his warmth, his breathing, everything felt like a dream.