The campus library steps were freezing. The night air smelled heavily of damp concrete and upcoming rain.
Logan Foster checked his phone screen. Eight thirty.
She was late.
Audrey was never late. When they were dating last year, she was always exactly where he asked her to be, ten minutes early, holding a coffee for him. She was dependable. She was quiet. She was easy to control.
He adjusted the crisp collar of his jacket. He needed to fix this narrative immediately. Seeing her with Mason Calloway behind the old annex had rattled him deeply. Seeing her sit at the football table in the middle of the cafeteria had completely broken his focus during his afternoon meetings.
The entire campus was talking about her. Not him. Her.
He heard the sharp, rhythmic click of heels on the concrete walkway.
Logan immediately dropped his tense shoulders. He practiced a soft, forgiving smile. He turned around, ready to play the concerned ex-boyfriend.
"I knew you would come," Logan said gently.
The figure stopped under the flickering yellow glow of the streetlamp.
"Why wouldn’t I come?" a high, confident voice asked.
Logan froze.
It was not Audrey.
Zoey Mitchell stood at the bottom of the steps. She wore a tight leather jacket. The suffocating, heavy scent of her floral perfume instantly filled the damp air, completely erasing the smell of the rain. She crossed her arms and stared up at him.
"Zoey," Logan said. His voice cracked slightly. He forced his perfect smile to stay in place. "What are you doing here?"
"I was looking for you," Zoey said. She walked up the concrete steps. Her eyes narrowed sharply. "You told me you were going back to your dorm to write a paper. Why are you pacing outside the library in the dark?"
"I needed a reference book," Logan lied smoothly. "I was just getting some fresh air first."
Zoey did not look convinced. She pulled out her phone. The screen cast a harsh, bright light on her perfectly contoured face.
"Have you seen the campus page today?" Zoey asked.
"I do not follow gossip," Logan said tightly.
Zoey let out a harsh, bitter laugh. "You might want to start. Your sad, clingy ex-girlfriend just took off her cap and sat with the entire starting lineup of the Westbridge football team."
Logan felt a cold knot twist in his stomach. He kept his face perfectly blank. He hated looking foolish. "Good for her. Maybe she is finally moving on."
"Do not play stupid with me, Logan," Zoey snapped. She stepped closer, invading his space. "People are talking. They are saying Mason Calloway chose her. A girl who spent the last twelve months looking like a ghost. It makes us look completely ridiculous."
"It makes them look ridiculous," Logan corrected. His chest felt tight. He hated this conversation. "It is obviously a stunt. She is doing it for attention."
"Then why do you look so stressed?" Zoey asked. She tilted her head. She studied his face carefully, picking apart his perfect image. "You have been checking your phone every five minutes since lunch. You are waiting for her right now, aren’t you?"
"Do not be crazy," Logan said. He took a step back.
"Fix this," Zoey warned him. She turned around to leave. "I did not agree to be your girlfriend just to get overshadowed by the girl you threw away."
She walked down the steps, her heels clicking aggressively into the night.
Logan stood alone in the dark. The wind picked up, biting at his face. He pulled out his phone. He opened his direct messages.
His text to Audrey was still sitting there.
*Read at 1:15 PM.*
She had ignored him. She actually ignored him.
Logan squeezed his phone so hard his knuckles turned white.
The cafeteria was absolutely deafening.
The smell of greasy pizza and cheap cafeteria fries hung heavy over the center table. Audrey stared at her plastic tray. She had survived exactly twenty minutes sitting with the Westbridge football team.
It was absolute chaos.
Jackson was currently trying to balance a plastic spoon on his nose. Leo was arguing loudly with a defensive lineman about who ran faster during morning drills. It was loud, completely unorganized, and surprisingly low-stress.
Nobody asked her about Logan. Nobody asked her about the rumors. They just treated her like she belonged at the table.
The only massive problem was the guy sitting entirely too close to her right side.
Mason rested his arm along the back of her chair. He was not touching her, but his broad frame trapped her in a small, inescapable bubble of heat. He smelled like clean laundry and expensive mint body wash. The sheer physical presence of him was completely overwhelming.
Audrey picked up a french fry.
Before she could put it in her mouth, a large hand swooped in. Mason snatched the fry right out of her fingers and popped it into his mouth.
Audrey slowly turned her head. She glared at him.
"You have your own plate," Audrey said.
Mason chewed slowly. He smiled. "Yours taste better."
"They are from the exact same batch, Calloway."
"But you seasoned them with pure rage," Mason teased. "It adds flavor."
Audrey rolled her eyes. She picked up another fry and guarded it with her other hand.
She observed him out of the corner of her eye. He looked completely in his element. He laughed at Jackson’s stupid jokes. He high-fived teammates walking past their table. He naturally drew the attention of every single person in the massive room.
He was a player. He was the campus heartbreaker. Audrey knew his reputation perfectly well. He dated girls for a few weeks, got completely bored, broke things off nicely, and moved on.
He was only sitting here right now because she was not swooning over him. He liked the challenge. He enjoyed poking her just to see her snap. The second she actually gave in and acted like a normal girl with a crush, he would lose interest instantly.
She was never going to give in. She just needed to survive this fake relationship until the campus moved on to a new scandal.
"Stop staring at me," Mason said. He did not even look at her. He was busy watching Leo try to steal a slice of pizza. "It is distracting."
"I am trying to figure out if you are always this annoying, or if today is a special occasion," Audrey shot back.
Mason finally turned his head. His warm brown eyes crinkled at the corners. He leaned in closer. "I am putting in extra effort just for you, mystery girl."
"Do not call me that."
"Then let me call you my girlfriend."
"I will literally stab you with this plastic fork."
Mason laughed out loud. The sound rumbled deep in his broad chest. He reached over and tapped the brim of her baseball cap, which was sitting uselessly on the table between them.
"You are brutal," Mason said softly. "I love it."
Audrey felt a strange, deeply annoying flutter in her stomach. She ignored it immediately. She grabbed her cap and shoved it into her backpack.
"Captain!" Leo suddenly yelled from across the table.
Mason looked up. "What, Leo?"
"Are we bringing plus-ones to the bonfire on Friday?" Leo asked loudly. He pointed a greasy finger at Audrey. "Because if you do not bring her, I am bringing her."
"You are not bringing her," Mason said flatly. The playful, golden retriever smile vanished from his face for exactly one second.
"So you are bringing her?" Jackson asked.
Audrey held her hands up immediately. "I am not going anywhere. I do not go to parties."
"Yes, she does," Mason told the table.
Audrey turned completely in her seat to face him. "Excuse me?"
"It is a team bonfire," Mason explained smoothly. He leaned his elbows on the sticky table. He gave her his most charming, persuasive look. "It is a tradition. The whole team goes. If my fake girlfriend suddenly refuses to show up, people will get suspicious."
"I do not care if they get suspicious," Audrey said. She kept her voice low. "I like my room. My room is quiet. My room does not smell like sweaty athletes and woodsmoke."
"There will be free food," Mason offered.
"I have snacks."
"There will be fire."
"I have a desk lamp."
Mason chuckled. He rested his chin in his large hand and looked at her. He looked genuinely captivated by her stubbornness. He looked like he could sit there and argue with her all day long.
"Audrey," Mason said quietly. The teasing edge completely left his voice. "If you stay in your room, Logan wins. He wants you to hide."
Audrey completely froze.
The casual banter stopped. Mason hit the absolute center of her deepest fear. He saw right through her tough, unbothered act. He knew exactly what buttons to press to get her moving.
She hated that he was right.
If she disappeared now, right after making a massive statement in the cafeteria, Logan would know she was still scared of him. The gossip page would say the football captain dumped her in less than twenty-four hours. She would be a joke all over again.
Audrey stared at Mason’s smug, handsome face. She wanted to wipe that confident smile right off.
"Fine," Audrey said through her teeth.
Mason’s smile only grew wider. "Excellent. I will pick you up at eight."
"If you show up late, I am locking my door."
"I would never keep you waiting."
Audrey grabbed her backpack and stood up from the table. She had to get out of there before her face turned completely red. "I am going to the library. Do not follow me."
"See you Friday, girlfriend!" Leo shouted.
Audrey ignored him. She walked fast, keeping her head up as she navigated through the crowded cafeteria.
She pushed through the heavy glass doors. The warm afternoon air hit her face.
Her phone buzzed violently in her pocket.
She pulled it out, expecting another pathetic, controlling message from Logan.
It was a notification from the Westbridge Anonymous Confession page.
Audrey unlocked her screen.
It was a picture taken from inside the cafeteria just a few minutes ago. It showed Audrey sitting at the center table without her cap on. Mason was leaning close to her, laughing, stealing a fry directly from her tray. They looked incredibly comfortable. They looked happy.
The caption was typed in bold letters.
*Update. The mystery girl has a face. And the untouchable captain looks absolutely obsessed.*
Audrey stopped walking.
Obsessed?
She slowly turned around. She looked back through the glass doors of the cafeteria.
She could clearly see Mason sitting at the table. He was not laughing with his team anymore. He was not eating.
He was looking straight at the door. He was watching her walk away.