Chapter 4

Yet here they were, these same spoiled rich kids who usually acted like they owned the world, kneeling in a row without daring to make a sound.

Xavier stood before them with a cigarette between his lips. When he spotted Quinn, he bent down to her level and smiled, giving her head an affectionate pat.

"There. I took care of them for you." His voice was gentle, almost as though he were coaxing a sulking child. "So stop being mad at me, okay?"

Quinn finally understood what he was doing, and the absurdity of it almost made her laugh.

"Xavier, do you seriously think I broke up with you because you didn't punish them?"

Xavier raised an eyebrow. "What else would it be?"

For a moment, Quinn was at a loss for words.

She couldn't help remembering the scene by the lake yesterday, when Xavier had pinned that man to the ground and beaten him in a blind rage.

Then she thought back to her own kidnapping. She'd spent an entire night trapped in a warehouse, eventually losing consciousness from hypothermia. When she'd finally woken up in the hospital, Xavier had been sitting beside her bed, playing a game on his phone.

He'd glanced up at her, completely unhurried, and chuckled.

"You're awake? Hang on, let me finish this round."

It had never been about whether he punished the people who hurt her.

It was about the glaring difference between how much he cared when Natalie was hurt and how little he cared when it was Quinn.

A chill settled deeper into her chest. Before she could say anything, however, Xavier's friends lost their patience.

"Quinn Sawyer, don't be so ungrateful!" one of them, Tyler Bennett, shouted. "Xavier went out of his way to teach these guys a lesson for you, and you're still giving him attitude?"

Even Quinn's classmates began chiming in.

"Come on, Quinn. A guy like Xavier could have anyone he wants. You hit the jackpot when he picked you! Stop playing hard to get."

Quinn finally lifted her head and looked around at them.

"What are you saying?" she asked calmly. "That because I'm not as good-looking as Xavier, and my family isn't as wealthy as his, I don't even deserve to be treated as an equal in a relationship?"

Everyone fell silent.

Quinn continued, enunciating every word. "If that's the kind of relationship I'm supposed to settle for, I'd rather not have one at all."

With that, she turned to leave.

Xavier's brow twitched, and he instinctively reached out to stop her.

But before he could catch her arm, a chair scraped sharply against the floor.

Everyone turned toward the sound. Natalie, who had been sitting in the back row, was getting to her feet.

"Now that our last exam is over," she said with a smile, "why don't I treat everyone to karaoke at the place next to campus? We can celebrate together."

Then she looked at Xavier, her smile brightening.

"And Xavier, thank you for helping me yesterday. I'd love for you and your friends to come too."

Soon, the whole group had gathered at the karaoke lounge beside the university.

Quinn hadn't felt comfortable turning down the invitation. Whatever had happened between her and Xavier, Natalie hadn't done anything wrong, and Quinn didn't want to put her in an awkward position.

Everyone drank and played party games. Whoever lost had to draw a card and complete the challenge written on it, or take a drink as punishment.

Quinn barely paid attention to the games, her mind still occupied with everything that had happened.

Tyler, who was also in charge of sports for their class, lost a round and chose to draw a challenge card.

He read it aloud.

"Kiss a girl wearing white for one full minute!"

Everyone looked around the room, only to discover that just two girls were wearing white.

Quinn and Natalie.

The guy's eyes lit up. He quickly glanced back at the card.

"Wait, there's more! It says if more than one girl is wearing white, the first person sitting to my left gets to choose who I kiss!"

Heads turned toward the seat beside him.

As luck would have it, Xavier was sitting right there.

His friends immediately erupted into excited shouts.

"Holy shit, it's fate! Xavier, you get to choose! Who's kissing him, Natalie Shaw or Quinn Sawyer?"

"Hey, ground rules! Everyone agreed to play, so no backing out! Whether it's Natalie or Quinn, whoever gets picked has to go through with it! And Xavier, hurry up and choose. No chickening out!"