Nobela ni Rue Ella

CadeThe front door of my real home swings open before I even reach the porch, and suddenly there's a blur of blonde curls and gap-toothed grin launching herself at my legs."Cade! Cade! You're here!" Gwen shrieks, wrapping her tiny arms around my waist"Hey, monster," I laugh, scooping her up and spinning her around until she's dizzy with giggles. At six years old, she's the only person in the world who thinks I hung the moon, and I'd probably kill anyone who tried to change that."Careful, she's been bouncing off the walls since you called," Jill says from the doorway, her teacher voice warm with affection. "Come on, dinner's ready."Alex appears behind her, and for a second I'm nine years old again, standing on their doorstep with everything I owned shoved into a garbage bag, waiting for them to decide I wasn't worth the trouble.Thirteen years later, and I still can't quite believe they kept me."How's the house?" Jill asks as we settle around the familiar kitchen table that's see

QuinnBy the time I'm halfway to campus, sweat is flowing down my back and my blazer feels like a blanket designed by someone who clearly hated professional women.I stop under the shade of a tree and peel off the jacket, immediately feeling like I can breathe again. The heat is suffocating, and walking three miles in business attire was definitely not part of my orientation day plan."Insufferable, arrogant, completely reprehensible..." I mutter under my breath, folding the blazer over my arm with more force than necessary. Cade West is absolutely the most infuriating human being I've ever had the misfortune of encountering.Right. The numbers. I scroll through my contacts and dial Jeremy's number, pressing the phone to my ear as I continue trudging toward campus."Quinn!" His voice is cheerful, completely at odds with my current state of dishevelment. "How'd the ride with Cade go?""It didn't," I say tersely. "He abandoned me."Jeremy's laugh is loud enough that I have to hold the p

CadeThe sound of footsteps on the stairs pulls me from my eggs and the game highlights Riley's showing us on his phone."Well, well," Marcus grins, nudging Jeremy with his elbow. "Looks like sleeping beauty's finally awake."I don't look up from my plate, but I can feel her presence like a fucking migraine waiting to happen. The dining room falls silent except for the scrape of my fork against the plate."Oh my God," Riley breathes, and I can practically hear his brain short-circuiting. "You didn't tell us she was—""Breathing?" I cut him off, finally glancing up.Quinn Holloway stands in the doorway wearing what looks like pajamas designed by a retirement home—flannel pants and an oversized Harvard Law sweatshirt that somehow still manages to showcase curves I absolutely refuse to notice. Her hair is messy from sleep, and she's blinking at us like she's stumbled into an alternate dimension."I didn't know you all... ate together," she says carefully, her voice still rough with sleep

QuinnI perch on the edge of what I assume is Cade's couch—black, expensive-looking, and littered with enough hockey gear to outfit a small team. My copy of the Constitution sits open in my lap, the familiar weight of it grounding me in a space that feels hostile.Article II, Section 1. The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America...The words blur together as I steal a glance over the top of my book. Cade is sitting on a couch far away from him, now in some shorts. His hair—black with those ridiculous dark blue tips that add some sort of bad boy allure to him—falls messily across his forehead.Everything about him screams trouble. The kind of trouble that gets good guys like my brother arrested or kicked off teams or worse.The girl—whose name I still don't know and definitely don't care about—drapes herself across his back like a human scarf, her arms winding around his waist. She's saying something about his "type," her voice carrying that part

Quinn"It's been decided, Quinn."My brother's voice cuts through the phone, flat and final, as if he's announcing tomorrow's weather instead of signing my death warrant.I shift the phone against my shoulder, my free hand automatically flipping to Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution—a nervous habit that usually calms me. Today, it does nothing. "I could still look for somewhere else," I try, desperation creeping into my voice despite my best efforts. "You know, literally anywhere else on campus. A closet. A storage unit. The library basement.""Nope." Beck's response is maddeningly firm, and I wish I could punch him through the phone. "You're staying with Cade. End of discussion."I adjust my glasses with more force than necessary, the familiar weight doing nothing to ground me.Of course.Of all the people in this godforsaken college town, it has to be him. The one person who would probably throw a party if I spontaneously combusted."If only Dad wasn't stuck playing mother hen