Chapter Ten

Riley’s POV

“Riley Marinette Brooks!”

June stormed into my apartment without knocking. Not that she needed to. She literally had a key.

Mom had decisively refused to let me stay in the dorms or get a roommate because, according to her, “it invites unnecessary drama.” Which honestly sounded ironic considering my life currently resembled a badly written reality show.

I’d deliberately picked one of the more modest apartments near campus to avoid drawing attention to my family name, but during the first few weeks, I couldn’t stand living alone. So June became my unofficial roommate. I gave her a key, and ever since then, she came and went whenever she wanted.

“Care to explain what the hell is going on?” she demanded, waving her hands dramatically as she marched toward me.

“June,” I greeted calmly, lacing my converse, “a wonderful morning to you too.”

“Now is not the time for that.” She pointed accusingly at me. “Have you seen the campus blog? Or do you no longer own a phone?”

Her eyes practically bulged with curiosity as she stopped in front of the couch where I sat preparing for the gym. It had been a while since my last workout, and honestly, I needed it. I needed the ache in my muscles to drown out every other thought in my head. If my body hurt enough, maybe my brain would finally shut up for once.

“Actually,” I replied thoughtfully, “I think I donated my phone to a helpless beggar last night.”

June stared at me.

“I’m being serious, Riles.”

“So am I.”

“Riley.”

“Fine. Technically, I still own the phone. I just haven’t turned it on since last night.”

“Smart choice,” she muttered before immediately continuing, “because what the hell is happening with you and Cole Donovan?”

Straight to the point.

“And why was your mother here? And why were the three of you having dinner together? And since when do you even know Cole?”

The questions came so fast she barely paused to breathe. I looked at her quietly for a moment. Her lips were pressed into that familiar thin line she always wore whenever I did something reckless without telling her first, which, unfortunately, happened often enough for her to recognize the pattern.

Right now, the worst part for me, was the confidentiality clause in the contract. I hated it. Because right now, more than anything, I wanted to tell June the truth. The whole thing felt too massive to carry alone. But instead, I forced my best smile into place, stood up so we were eye level; though I still had a couple inches on her, and nodded.

“It’s true,” I said lightly. “Mom knows about him too.”

June stared at me like I’d just announced Santa Claus was my biological father. Fair reaction.

“I don’t get it,” she said quietly. “You dated Matty for an entire year and still never told your mom about him. So why Cole?”

Her brows furrowed deeper.

“I mean… it hasn’t even been that long since Matty.”

My stomach dipped painfully at the reminder.

“Maybe,” I said slowly, “this relationship means more to me.”

“You don’t mean that.”

The thing was… I didn’t entirely mean it. Before the festival night, Matty had been my entire world. And despite everything, part of me still hadn’t caught up to reality yet. But this situation did mean more in a different way. Because now the stakes were bigger than heartbreak. Now my future was tangled inside the mess too. Still smiling carefully, I nodded anyway.

“I do. But that’s not the point.” I shrugged. “The point is that I’m happier now.”

Something flickered across June’s face. So quickly I almost missed it. Not anger exactly. Something tighter and sharp. But then she smiled suddenly and dropped onto the couch.

“Well,” she sighed, “good luck surviving the rumors because people are absolutely losing their minds online.”

I laughed softly and sat beside her.

“At this point, I should probably move to another country and start over.”

June burst into laughter, her shoulders finally relaxing for the first time since she’d barged into my apartment.

“They’d still find you,” she said. “People are literally digging up your entire family history.”

“Which is insane, by the way,” I groaned. “Why does anyone care who my mother is? And why are they so obsessed about my relationship with Cole, we’re not the first couple on campus.”

“Because,” June said matter-of-factly, “you’re apparently the first girlfriend in the history of Cole Donovan.”

I blinked. That caught me completely off guard. I knew embarrassingly little about my fake boyfriend considering I’d signed an actual legal-looking contract with him. But somehow everybody else on campus seemed to know everything about him already. I dropped back against the couch cushions.

“His first girlfriend, huh?”

The words slipped out before I could stop them. June immediately turned toward me, amused.

“You’re dating him and you didn’t know that?”

I opened my mouth. Then closed it again. Because honestly? Good question. June shifted fully toward me now, tucking one leg beneath herself as a mischievous glint entered her eyes.

“You know,” she started slowly, “there’s actually something I’ve been dying to ask.”

That tone never meant anything good. I arched a brow cautiously.

“What?”

Her grin widened.

“What did it feel like to kiss Cole Donovan?”

I stared at her in complete horror. Heat rushed straight to my face. She did not just ask me that.

---

I ended up getting to the gym much later than planned thanks to June’s interrogation session.

Thankfully, a phone call had eventually come through for her, and she’d rushed out immediately afterward claiming it was urgent.

Though honestly, she’d seemed strangely fidgety the entire call. Still, if something was wrong, June would tell me. At least… I hoped she would. The gym was ridiculously packed today. Thank God for my face cap.

With the amount of attention currently on me, the last thing I needed was random strangers stopping me every five minutes asking if I was Riley Brooks, daughter of the CEO behind the country’s biggest hotel franchise, or Cole Donovan’s first girlfriend.

Campus gossip had officially reached celebrity-level insanity. And the worst part? I’d done it to myself. After changing in the locker room, I headed straight for the treadmill. I ran hard. Hard enough that my lungs burned and my thoughts blurred into static.

Hard enough that all I could focus on was not collapsing face-first in front of an audience. At some point, “My Stupid Heart” by Walk Off the Earth was blasting through my headphones, but I wasn’t even registering the lyrics anymore.

Thirty minutes later, I stumbled off the treadmill completely breathless and collapsed onto the mat below. A bottle of water suddenly appeared in front of my face. I looked up. Sandy-brown eyes met mine, warm and amused.

Noah Bennett.

“Not fooling anyone with that cap, Riley,” he teased with a grin. “We can all tell it’s you.”

A laugh escaped me before I could stop it. I accepted the water gratefully and took several long gulps while Noah crouched beside me. Then he held out his hand.

I took it without hesitation, letting him pull me easily back to my feet.

“Were you trying to outrun your problems,” he asked, gesturing toward the treadmill, “or just leave Earth entirely?”

“Maybe both,” I admitted.

He laughed softly.

“I didn’t know nerds worked out at all.”

I narrowed my eyes. Remembering the incident at the library. I winced.

“Okay, I deserved that.”

“You definitely did,” he agreed, clearly entertained. “But I wasn’t offended.”

Then he tilted his head slightly.

“Consider this payback so you can finally stop feeling guilty about it.”

He offered his hand again as a show of peace.

“Deal?”

I laughed and shook it.

“Deal.”

“Though,” I added quickly, “in my defense, I’m not exactly a nerd. Showbiz requires good posture and stamina too.”

“That’s fair,” he admitted.

Then he looked at me for a moment longer than necessary. Not uncomfortable. Just… deliberate.

“Well,” he said finally, stepping backward, “it was good seeing you again.”

That easy smile returned.

“I’m definitely looking forward to our next encounter.”

And before I could think of a response, he turned and walked away. I looked down at the water bottle still in my hand and smiled despite myself. Maybe my life wasn’t a complete disaster. Maybe. Just maybe.

I could actually survive this. Because honestly? I was going to have to.