Chapter 1

Hayden Jensen—the rich kid I shared an apartment with—had gone off to Kingsley City, leaving the whole place to me.

I wasted no time calling over Brock Hayes, a tanned six-foot varsity jock, Julian Reed, the gentle campus heartthrob, and Noah Bennett, a sweet underclassman with puppy eyes. That made four of us—just enough to get a poker game going.

Julian suggested that the loser post an ugly selfie on social media. Before long, their photos were flooding the feed.

"Hey, Hayden's online. He actually liked my post," Julian blurted.

"Isn't he at a family gathering in Kingsley City? He's probably just bored out of his mind."

I scrolled down and saw that Hayden had actually gone to the trouble of liking over 50 posts, one by one.

He even left a comment on mine, writing, "Looks like you're having a blast", capped off with a thumbs-up and a smiley-face emoji.

My mind defaulted to his sunny side, and I took the comment as a heartfelt compliment.

Only Noah looked a little worried. "Sherry, is it just me, or does Hayden sound kind of passive-aggressive? Do you think he didn't want us coming over?"

No way in hell.

I gave Noah's shoulder a reassuring pat. "Don't worry about it. We're just roommates. Why would Hayden care about stuff like this? Besides, he's the one who introduced you guys to me in the first place."

One night, I'd casually mentioned that I wanted a relationship—and that if I couldn't land a boyfriend, a few easy-on-the-eyes guys would do just fine. Who knew Hayden would take it so seriously, sending over a whole roster of the school's hottest guys all at once?

He was being so generous, so how could I possibly say no?

"So, you're saying I'm the one who introduced this crowd to keep you company?"

I turned around, and there was Hayden, standing right behind me—silent as a ghost!

He was dressed in a full suit, his suitcase still clutched in one hand.

"Yeah, aren't these all the eye candy you scouted for me—"

The words died in my throat the moment I met his dark, menacing glare. Those beautiful puppy-dog eyes of his pinned me in place with pure aggression, sizing me up from head to toe as if I were on trial.

I was screwed! Dark Hayden had entered the chat!

Brock, Julian, and Noah beat a hasty retreat the second they saw Hayden walk through the door.

He stood right in front of me, trying his best to steady his breathing, but a single glance told me he'd come tearing back here.

He was absolutely fuming.

"Aren't you… supposed to be in Kingsley City?"

I hadn't even done anything wrong, yet somehow my voice trailed off, losing its edge.

Hayden nodded thoughtfully. "If I hadn't come back, every single corner of my apartment would've been plastered all over social media by now.

"If you're planning to turn this place into a photo studio, let me know. I can help you advertise. Just do me a favor and throw a little commission my way when you're rich, Ms. Wright."

There was that signature passive-aggressive tone.

"Hayden, I only called them over because you gave me the green light—"

"That was him agreeing to it! Not me!"

Hayden suddenly leaned in, so close his face was practically touching mine, his ragged breaths brushing against my ear.

"From now on, you're not allowed to listen to him. Especially not when it comes to… this crowd he hooked you up with."

I hesitated, caught in the middle. "Maybe you two should just sort this out between yourselves? I don't really have a reason to side with you and brush him off."

After all, Sunny Hayden still wanted to be best friends with me.

"How about the fact that I'm the one waiving your rent every month, not him?"

I went dead silent.

Well, he certainly knew how to hit me where it hurt.

For the sake of my wallet, I flashed him an ingratiating smile and turned around to pour him a glass of water. But the instant I turned my back, a loud crash echoed behind me.

"Hayden? What's wrong?"