LOGINI’ve spent two years loving a guy who doesn’t know my name. So when Ryder King — arrogant, insufferable, captain of the hockey team — corners me with a deal, I should say no. He needs a tutor to survive art class and keep his spot on the ice. I need someone who actually knows how to get a guy like Tristan to notice me. It’s simple. Transactional. Nothing that should matter. Except Ryder doesn’t just teach me how to flirt — he teaches me how to stop hiding. And somewhere between paint-stained hands and 2 a.m. study sessions, the lessons stop feeling like practice. I tell myself it’s fake. I tell myself it doesn’t count. But real feelings have a way of showing up uninvited — and there’s a reason this one can never be simple. Our families are already tangled together in ways neither of us saw coming. By the time I admit which player actually has my heart, Ryder’s already halfway out the door. And I don’t know if I taught myself to be brave enough, fast enough, to stop him.
View MoreTessy’s POV“So let me get this straight.” Sophie pulled her feet onto the couch and turned to face me, a bowl of cereal balanced on her knee. “Tristan found out you kissed Ryder, and he just said okay?”“Pretty much.” I tucked my hair behind my ear. “I was shocked too. But I guess he’s just really mature.”“No.” She pointed her spoon at me. “No guy is that chill. Owen would’ve made it a whole event. We’d have fought in the parking lot.”“You and Owen are toxic.”“Yes, and?” She narrowed her eyes. “We know we’re toxic. It’s called passion.”“It’s called a restraining order waiting to happen.”She laughed, and I gave her the look. “Okay, fine, we’re a little toxic. But I still think a normal boyfriend would’ve reacted more.”“I like that he’s mature about it.” I said it too firmly. “Besides, Ryder and I are never getting that close again.”Sophie went quiet. She set the bowl on the coffee table and tilted her head. “We’re besties, right? So be honest. Do you have feelings for Ryder?”“
Ryder’s POV I slammed my locker so hard the whole row rattled. “Your idea was stupid,” I said, jerking my jersey over my head. “Dating Tracy was going to fix this? What the hell was I thinking, listening to you?” Owen leaned against the bench, calm as ever, tape unspooling between his fingers. “Dude. Calm down.” “Shut up.” “It hasn’t even been a month.” “I’m not doing a month.” I yanked at the laces on my skates until they bit into my fingers. “I’m not going through another day of smiling at her at lunch while Tessy…” I stopped and jammed my jaw shut. Owen watched me. “Okay. What actually happened with you and Tessy? What makes you think she isn’t interested anymore?” I couldn’t tell him about the kitchen. The porridge, her fingers brushing mine, her mouth under mine and the lights stuttering overhead. I could still taste mint. I could still feel her fist twisted in my shirt, pulling me closer when she should’ve been pushing me away. And then she’d said stop, and I
Tessy’s POV“Tristan.” His name scraped out of my throat. His eyes slid past me to Ryder, and I felt it, the way the air in the doorway changed. “He’s leaving,” I added, and hated how guilty it sounded.Ryder didn’t say a word. He kept his eyes on the floor and walked past Tristan, close enough that their shoulders nearly touched. The door clicked shut. Tristan pushed it the rest of the way with two fingers, and the lock turned over in the silence.My heart hammered against my ribs. My lips still burned. I just cheated on him. I pressed them together, as if he could read it there.“I got you medicine.” He held out a plastic bag, and the paper rustled in the quiet. “Sorry I didn’t text back. My phone died, and the signal was terrible with the storm.”More medicine. There were already three boxes of it on my dining table, and a half-eaten bowl of porridge beside them. I took the bag with both hands so he wouldn’t see them shaking. “Thank you.”“You look flushed.”“It’s the fever.” The l
Tessy’s POVHis breath touched my lips before his mouth did. One more inch and I would have felt it. My eyes had already half-closed, and my hand had curled into the front of his shirt without asking me.Tristan’s name flashed through my head, and I jerked back.“We shouldn’t.” My voice cracked on the second word.Ryder’s chest rose and fell. He stared at my mouth a second longer than he should have, then dragged his gaze to the floor. “Yeah. You’re right.”“We’re both in relationships.” I let go of his shirt and smoothed the wrinkles I’d made, then snatched my hand away as if the fabric had burned me. “We should respect that.”He nodded once, jaw working.Rain battered the windows harder. Neither of us spoke. The fridge hummed. A drip started somewhere in the kitchen, slow and steady, and I counted it because it gave me something to do. Ryder rubbed the back of his neck. I tucked my hair behind my ear, then untucked it.“Do you want to…” I laughed, too high. “I don’t know. Play a gam












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