Chapter 1
I keep having dreams about a stranger. Nights filled with illicit, unspeakable pleasure. But every time I wake up, I can never remember his name.
Six months later, I finally found him.
The good news? He’s just as handsome as he is in my dreams.
The bad news? He’s my boyfriend’s older brother.
Tyler told me. He didn’t ask. He told me he was dragging me back to his family estate for the holidays.
“Dress hot. Show some skin,” he said, looking at me like I was a prop instead of a person.
“It’s winter, Tyler. I’ll freeze.”
He shrugged. “Then we break up.”
He said it so casually. So confidently. Like he already knew what my answer would be.
He knew I wouldn’t leave.
Or rather, he thought he did.
I stayed quiet for a second, then lowered my eyes and said softly, “I don’t have money for new clothes.”
“Figured.”
He picked up his phone, tapped a few times, and a five-thousand-dollar transfer landed in my account. Then he waved me off without even glancing up from his game.
“Take it. I’m busy. Don’t annoy me.”
I played the role he liked best. Quiet. Obedient. Harmless.
Then I walked out.
The second the door closed behind me, I heard his voice ring out through his headset. He was already in a group call with his friends.
“Yeah, I’m bringing her home. I don’t believe Ava won’t get jealous this time. I only picked this girl to piss Ava off. Otherwise, why would I be into her? I’ve gotta put on a full show for my family too. Ava and I were together four years and never met my parents. This one? One month in and I’m bringing her home. That’ll sting.”
Laughter crackled through the speakers.
Then Tyler added, almost lazily, “Besides, my family listens to my brother. And she? She’s exactly the kind of girl my brother hates most.”
I stood there for a moment in the hallway, hand still on the doorknob, expression blank.
A month ago, Tyler Crawford suddenly set his sights on me.
Everyone at school knew he’d just broken up with his first love, and everyone knew I was just the rebound. Or the substitute. Or the pawn.
Nobody thought he meant any of it.
They were right.
I still said yes.
Because I needed money.
My mom had been sick for years, and I’d been juggling classes and part-time jobs trying to save enough for her surgery. But recently, her condition had gotten worse. We were out of time.
And then Tyler appeared with his family name, his designer sneakers, his trust-fund boredom, and his endless loose change.
The Crawford family owned one of the biggest conglomerates in the country. Tyler’s older brother ran the empire now. Tyler, meanwhile, spent his days racing sports cars, wasting money, and collecting attention.
Even the crumbs from a man like him were enough to get me closer to the surgery fund.
Tyler didn’t know any of that.
He thought I was hopelessly in love with him.
He thought I was the clingy poor girl lucky enough to be chosen.
That was fine with me.
People are easiest to fool when they’re already in love with their own reflection.