Mercy chinecherem
Everyone knows Jackson, my brother’s best friend, and I can’t stand him.
He’s arrogant, reckless, and always surrounded by women. Every time we’re in the same room, we find a reason to argue, and I’ve spent years convincing myself that I hate everything about him.
But there’s one secret nobody knows.
I’m attracted to him.
More than I should be.
Then Jackson catches me in a private moment involving something that belongs to him, and suddenly, the line between hatred and desire disappears.
One reckless decision leads to another. What was supposed to be a secret between us becomes something neither of us can ignore.
Until someone records us.
And posts it on the school blog.
Overnight, I become the girl everyone is talking about. The jokes, whispers, and humiliation follow me everywhere, while Jackson's reputation as a womanizer somehow makes the scandal easier for him to survive.
When I confront him, expecting him to stand beside me, he gives me the words that hurt the most.
“You came to me first.”
So I do the only thing I can.
I walk away.
Jackson and I go back to pretending we hate each other, but something has changed. I’m no longer willing to be the girl who chases him—and for the first time, Jackson is the one who wants something he can’t easily have.
But winning me back won't be easy.
Because attraction may have brought us together, but trust is what could either keep us together or tear us apart.
And when Jackson eventually leaves for college, putting miles between us, we’ll discover that falling in love was the easy part.
Staying together may be the hardest thing we've ever had to do.
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