All Chapters of I Hooked The Wrong Man : Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Anthony Vale kissed me under the awning outside the library while the rain came down so hard it sounded like a crowd clapping. I stood with my back against cold brick and my heart going off like a firework, thinking, finally. Three months. That was how long it had taken me.Three months of drinking coffee I hated because he liked it. Three months of walking him to class the long way, memorizing which professors he complained about and which ones he secretly admired, learning badminton just so I could lose to him with a straight face. I had earned this kiss. I had paid for it in sweat and stupidity and one sprained wrist."I think I'm in love with you," Anthony said against my mouth, and he laughed a little afterward, embarrassed, like the words had slipped out before he could stop them.I opened my eyes. His lashes were wet and his hand was warm on the back of my neck. Somewhere behind my ribs a small voice that sounded a lot like me said, you did it, you actually did it, and I was re

By the fourth day, the system had stopped talking to me like an assistant and started talking to me like an alarm clock with a grudge."Day four of five," it announced at six in the morning, while I was still drooling on my pillow. "Penalty clause activates in thirty hours.""You said that yesterday," I mumbled. "And the day before that. You say it every time I blink.""Then blink less."I pulled the blanket over my head. It did not help, because the voice lived inside my skull, but it made me feel like I had at least tried. Over the next several hours the system found new ways to be unbearable. It counted down the minutes while I brushed my teeth. It sighed, actually sighed, when I took a detour to avoid Lucas in the hallway. During lunch it played a soft chime every thirty seconds until I put my fork down and told it, silently and with great feeling, to go jump off a bridge."Suggestion," it said, unbothered. "The department party tonight is an ideal opportunity. Crowded setting. Al

The knock came at 8:03 in the morning, and I know the exact time because I was staring at the clock on Anthony's nightstand, wide awake, regretting every decision I had ever made.Anthony groaned into the pillow, one arm thrown across my stomach, his hair sticking up in four directions. He looked so peaceful that I almost felt sick. The knock came again, three flat raps, patient in a way that made my skin crawl."Who comes over at eight on a Wednesday?" he muttered."Don't answer it," I said."It could be important." He kissed my shoulder, rolled out of bed, and pulled on yesterday's shirt without bothering to button it. "Stay. I'll be two seconds."I should have stopped him. I pulled the blanket up to my chin and listened to his bare feet slap across the floor, to the click of the lock, to the creak of the door swinging open. Then there was a silence so thick that I could hear the radiator ticking."Lucas?" Anthony's voice cracked on the second syllable. "What are you doing here?"My

I wore the good jacket. I want that to be on the record, because it is the single most embarrassing fact in this situation. A man threatened me via text message and all i could think about in my closet was the navy one, probablyThe stairwell to the roof had been accessed from the men's maintenance door on the library, which was supposedly always locked, but wasn't that day, and at the top of the stairs, the wind knocked me back, because it had taken the sky, which had turned bruised-purple, for its own. Lucas Hale stood at the far end of the roof with his back to me, hands in his pockets."You came," he said, without turning around."You said to come alone.""I said lots of things." He turned then, and the wind had done wonderful things to his hair, and made him look even more dangerous than usual. "I didn't think you would.""Then why did you?""To see if you would." He took a step closer, and i leaned back, until my shoulders hit a cold pipe. He put one hand on the metal next to my

When I returned to the table, Odette had claimed the largest piece of tiramisu and Lucas had gone quiet in a way that made Marianne glance at him anxiously. He hadn't looked in my direction since I sat down. His mouth was set in a tight line, his jaw clenched, and his eyes were fixed to his glass. He radiated disinterest in the conversation with an almost physical force. I ate my dessert with all the deliberation of a woman about to die, which Anthony appreciated by pressing his knee against mine. I let him."Okay," Anthony stood up suddenly, "then I think we ought to get a round of speeches."Marianne's fork hovered. "Oh no. He's doing the face.""I don't have a face.""You do when you tell the story about your first goldfish.""That was a very serious ceremony," Anthony said, and cleared his throat and raised his glass, beaming so brightly around the table that a shard of something in my chest broke out and landed with a soft thud. "I'm not the best with words, but Mari, I thank you