Chapter 2
By the time I got back to my dorm, I had officially accepted the twelve thousand dollars.
I stared at the notification for another ten seconds before hitting confirm.
Bianca could judge me later.
My bank account had been sitting at eighty-four dollars that morning.
Twelve grand could cover groceries, textbooks, my phone bill, and a long list of things I usually pretended I didn’t need.
Ethan, meanwhile, acted like he’d sent me twenty bucks.
After dinner, he took me shopping.
Not regular shopping.
Ethan apparently had a personal shopper at one of the department stores downtown, which was how I ended up standing in a dressing room while a woman kept bringing me clothes I would normally be afraid to touch.
I came out holding the price tag on a dress.
“Ethan.”
He looked up from his phone.
“This is eight hundred dollars.”
“Okay.”
“Okay?”
“You like it?”
“That is not the point.”
He looked confused.
“What’s the point?”
I stared at him for a second.
“You know what? Never mind.”
He smiled.
“Get it.”
Three hours later, I was carrying more bags than I had owned clothes.
When Ethan drove me back to campus, he stopped outside my dorm but didn’t get out.
I looked at him.
“You coming in?”
His hand tightened around the steering wheel.
“I probably shouldn’t.”
“Why?”
He glanced toward the students walking past outside.
“People are going to stare.”
I knew what he meant.
His shirt was expensive and perfectly clean, but it pulled tight around his stomach. He’d barely looked at anyone all afternoon unless he had to.
I unbuckled my seat belt.
“Ethan.”
“Yeah?”
I leaned over and kissed his cheek.
He froze.
Completely froze.
I had to bite back a laugh.
“I don’t care if people stare.”
He slowly turned toward me.
“You don’t?”
“No.”
I opened the door, then looked back.
“But when you lose the weight, you’re walking me all the way upstairs.”
His eyes lit up.
“Deal.”
I carried the bags into the dorm.
My other roommate, Madison, looked up from her bed.
“Emily, what happened to you?”
“What?”
She pointed at the bags.
“Did you rob somebody?”
I laughed.
“My date bought them.”
Bianca turned around at her desk.
For one second, her eyes went straight to the shopping bags.
Then she smiled.
“So you actually went.”
“Yep.”
“And?”
“He’s nice.”
Bianca laughed.
“You’re serious?”
“Yeah.”
She leaned back in her chair.
“Emily, he’s huge.”
“I noticed.”
“And you still like him?”
“I said he’s nice.”
She looked me over, then glanced at the bags again.
“Well, I guess that works for you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
She shrugged.
“You need the money. He needs someone who doesn’t care what he looks like.”
Madison went quiet.
I stared at Bianca.
She smiled like she hadn’t just insulted both of us.
“Honestly, you two kind of make sense.”
I almost told her right then.
Instead, I put the bags on my bed.
On the ride back, I’d looked Ethan up properly.
He wasn’t some random rich guy with a trust fund.
He’d started a gaming company while he was still in college.
Ashford Interactive now had several huge titles, including one Bianca had spent half of last semester playing on her phone.
The company was worth an absurd amount of money.
And Ethan owned most of it.
Bianca was still smiling.
“I hope you guys are happy.”
I smiled back.
“Thanks.”
Then I turned away before she could see how hard I was trying not to laugh.