A pleasant ache radiates in my gut every time those words replay in my head, and I hate myself for it.
“He’s playing you,” Cody says, snapping me from my thoughts. When I glance up, he’s staring at me with a bland expression, his phone in his lap. He must have finished the video.
Cody came to my room to watch my date with Tristan. He was ecstatic when I told him how I “confessed” my crush on him to Tristan. He had the biggest grin when he watched the beginning of the video. The editors cut up the footage for even more drama. But as the video progressed, his delight faded. He could see how affected I was by Tristan.
“I know he is,” I mumble, pushing my glasses up my nose.
He frowns. “I think you’re starting to hope he isn’t. I think you’re starting to believe him.”
I scowl at him. “Leave me alone. You don’t know what it’s like to be filmed when someone says something like that. It’s very disconcerting.”
He looks like he wants to roll his eyes. “Only because it’s Tristan Wolfe. If it was some average-looking dude, you wouldn’t give a shit.”
I raise both hands in the air. “No shit, Cody. He has the face of a fucking angel. Never in my life has someone that hot shown me this much attention.” I narrow my eyes. “If you were in the same situation, and some bombshell was saying things like that to you, you’d be out buying engagement rings right now.”
“No.” He stares steadily at me. “I wouldn’t.”
The sudden buzzing of my phone startles me. My heart skips a beat when I see Tristan’s name light up the screen.
Cody scoffs, and self-conscious heat washes over me. Fuck. Why can’t he just leave already? I’m sick of being criticized for being horny.
“A text from your man?” Cody asks.
“Yes,” I say blandly, determined to ignore his sarcasm. I swipe the screen to read Tristan’s text.
Tristan: I booked us a study room in the library. Meet me at 6?
My pulse races, excitement simmering in my veins, but I keep my face carefully blank under Cody’s scrutiny.
Me: Sounds good.
Tristan said when we started this whole thing that he wanted us to spend time together on campus outside of the game. This is only to make Harper jealous.
I take a deep breath. I can do this. Hanging out with Tristan outside of the game isn’t going to fuck with me. He won’t benearly as charismatic without cameras around us. He wouldn’t make the effort.
The sun begins its descent, casting an orange glow on the campus library. My palms are slick with sweat, and I wipe them on my jeans. I push open the heavy glass door and enter the library, my footsteps echoing off the high ceiling.
Cody left my dorm a few hours ago, and he wasn’t happy. He fully believes that I’m falling for Tristan.
It hurts that he thinks I’m so pathetic.
I’m not going to fall for Tristan. This whole competition will be the reckoning I’ve always needed. I will take Tristan down, if only by sheer will. He’s not going to see me as the spineless, nerdy girl he, for whatever reason, decided to extricate from Harper’s life years ago.
I’m the woman who’s going to show him he’s not invincible.
I weave my way through the aisles of books until I reach the long row of study rooms. Through the door’s window, I catch a glimpse of Tristan leaning back in a chair, his posture as languid as a cat’s.
Fuck, this man is sexy doing anything. Even sitting in a chair. So much beauty wasted on such an awful personality. If I had his good looks, I would rule the fucking universe.
When I walk into the room, his blue eyes lock onto mine, sending shivers down my spine. That familiar smirk makes its appearance.
I try to affect nonchalance as I take a seat across from him. “I was about to start a really juicy chapter, so you’d better not keep me too long.”
He stares at me for a long moment. “Your fanfic, you mean?”
I tilt my head, smiling wickedly. “Oh, did you know that I writePride and Prejudicefanfic?”
He flinches. “I really meant it when I said I was sorry about that.”
